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Short-Range Radar-Based Techniques for Remote Monitoring and Medical Related Applications

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Radar Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2024 | Viewed by 2440

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Stefano Pisa

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Guest Editor

Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Interests: interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological systems; therapeutic and diagnostic applications of electromagnetic fields; radar-based techniques for remote monitoring of subject position and cardio-respiratory activity; algorithms for radar image reconstruction; permittivity measurements and models of construction and biological materials

Dr. Giulia Sacco

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Guest Editor

UMR CNRS6164-IETR, Campus de Beaulieu, 263 Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042 Rennes CEDEX, France
Interests: interactions between EM fields and human body; biomedical radars; mmWaves; dosimetry; wearable antennas
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays radars are increasingly used in short-range scenarios. Emerging applications involve distance measurement (e.g., in driver-assistance systems, level measurements in tanks, engineered white canes for visually impaired people) and displacement detection (e.g., for remote monitoring of cardio-respiratory activity, building vibrations, and development of human–computer interfaces). Radars are also used to obtain images of scenarios through walls (TWRI) and under rubble, or to track multiple people and detect fall events of elderly subjects in an indoor environment. Finally, radar imaging techniques for breast cancer and haemorrhagic brain stroke diagnosis have seen significant progress. For all these applications, various radar topologies have been proposed, including continuous-wave (CW) Doppler radars, frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radars, ultra-wideband (UWB) pulsed radars, and UWB-modulated (M-UWB) pulse radars. In addition to conventional architectures, subharmonic, harmonic, and intermodulation radars have also been investigated. For short range applications, specific models and signal processing algorithms have been developed, in some cases with the support of machine learning techniques. Within the context of this continuously evolving scenario, this Special Issue aims to collect original contributions in the field of radar applications and techniques, but also on innovative architectures both in terms of electronics and antennas.

Prof. Dr. Stefano Pisa
Dr. Giulia Sacco
Guest Editors

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Keywords

distance and displacement measurements
environmental monitoring
doppler and FMCW radars
ultra-wideband radar
harmonic and intermodulation radar
radar signal processing
radar image reconstructions
machine learning-based radars

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 13553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Lateral Radar Positioning for Vital Sign Monitoring: An Empirical Study

by Lars Hornig, Benedek Szmola, Wiebke Pätzold, Jan Paul Vox and Karen Insa Wolf

Sensors 2024, 24(11), 3548; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24113548 - 31 May 2024

Abstract

Vital sign monitoring is dominated by precise but costly contact-based sensors. Contactless devices such as radars provide a promising alternative. In this article, the effects of lateral radar positions on breathing and heartbeat extraction are evaluated based on a sleep study. A lateral radar position is a radar placement from which multiple human body zones are mapped onto different radar range sections. These body zones can be used to extract breathing and heartbeat motions independently from one another via these different range sections. Radars were positioned above the bed as a conventional approach and on a bedside table as well as at the foot end of the bed as lateral positions. These positions were evaluated based on six nights of sleep collected from healthy volunteers with polysomnography (PSG) as a reference system. For breathing extraction, comparable results were observed for all three radar positions. For heartbeat extraction, a higher level of agreement between the radar foot end position and the PSG was found. An example of the distinction between thoracic and abdominal breathing using a lateral radar position is shown. Lateral radar positions could lead to a more detailed analysis of movements along the body, with the potential for diagnostic applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Short-Range Radar-Based Techniques for Remote Monitoring and Medical Related Applications)

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15 pages, 11687 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Subcranial Encephalic Temnograph-Shaped Helmet for Brain Stroke Monitoring

by Antonio Cuccaro, Angela Dell’Aversano, Bruno Basile, Maria Antonia Maisto and Raffaele Solimene

Sensors 2024, 24(9), 2887; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24092887 - 30 Apr 2024

Viewed by 506

Abstract

In this contribution, a wearable microwave imaging system for real-time monitoring of brain stroke in the post-acute stage is described and validated. The system exploits multistatic/multifrequency (only 50 frequency samples) data collected via a low-cost and low-complexity architecture. Data are collected by an array of only 16 antennas moved by pneumatic system. Phantoms, built from ABS material and filled with appropriate Triton X-100-based mixtures to mimic the different head human tissues, are employed for the experiments. The microwave system exploits the differential scattering measures and the Incoherent MUSIC algorithm to provide a 3D image of the region under investigation. The shown results, although preliminary, confirm the potential of the proposed microwave system in providing reliable results, including for targets whose evolution is as small as 16 mL in volume. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Short-Range Radar-Based Techniques for Remote Monitoring and Medical Related Applications)

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16 pages, 11312 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fully Integrated 24-GHz 1TX-2RX Transceiver for Compact FMCW Radar Applications

by Goo-Han Ko, Seung-Jin Moon, Seong-Hoon Kim, Jeong-Geun Kim and Donghyun Baek

Sensors 2024, 24(5), 1460; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24051460 - 23 Feb 2024

Viewed by 829

Abstract

A fully integrated 24-GHz radar transceiver with one transmitter (TX) and two receivers (RXs) for compact frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar applications is here presented. The FMCW synthesizer was realized using a fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL) and programmable chirp generator, which are completely integrated in the proposed transceiver. The measured output phase noise of the synthesizer is −80 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset. The TX consists of a three-bit bridged t-type attenuator for gain control, a two-stage drive amplifier (DA) and a one-stage power amplifier (PA). The TX chain provides an output power of 13 dBm while achieving <0.5 dB output power variation within the range of 24 to 24.25 GHz. The RX with a direct conversion I-Q structure is composed of a two-stage low noise amplifier (LNA), I-Q generator, mixer, transimpedance amplifier (TIA), a two-stage biquad band pass filter (BPF), and a differential-to-single (DTS) amplifier. The TIA and the BPF employ a DC offset cancellation (DCOC) circuit to suppress the strong reflection signal and TX-RX leakage. The RX chain exhibits an overall gain of 100 dB. The proposed radar transceiver is fabricated using a 65 nm CMOS technology. The transceiver consumes 220 mW from a 1 V supply voltage and has 4.84 mm² die size including all pads. The prototype FMCW radar is realized with the proposed transceiver and Yagi antenna to verify the radar functionality, such as the distance and angle of targets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Short-Range Radar-Based Techniques for Remote Monitoring and Medical Related Applications)

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15 pages, 7798 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Intermodulation Radar for Non-Linear Target and Transceiver Detection

by Stefano Pisa, Alessandro Trifiletti, Pasquale Tommasino, Pietro Monsurrò, Piero Tognolatti, Giorgio Leuzzi, Alessandro Di Carlofelice and Emidio Di Giampaolo

Sensors 2024, 24(5), 1433; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24051433 - 23 Feb 2024

Viewed by 754

Abstract

The design and the characterization of a non-linear target to test an intermodulation radar was performed using the AWR design environment Version 22 by Cadence software. Two experimental setups for intermodulation measurements were realized in order to characterize connectorized or antenna-equipped devices. Both setups were modeled using the VSS software available inside AWR Version 22. The comparison between measurements and simulations on the designed target showed a very good agreement. Intermodulation measurements were performed on connectorized devices present inside electronic systems and on various transceiver available on the market. This experimental study evidenced that the non-linearities of devices such as amplifiers and mixers are visible at their access ports even when the device is switched off. Moreover, this study highlights the ability of an intermodulation radar to remotely detect the presence of a particular transceiver, even when the latter is switched off, thanks to the specific frequency response of its intermodulation products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Short-Range Radar-Based Techniques for Remote Monitoring and Medical Related Applications)

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