Robust, Speckle-Tolerant, Handheld Non-Contact Vital Sign Monitor With Photonics IC

We propose the development, through multiple iterations, the designs for a medic-mount, non-contact laser vital signs monitor (ncLVSM) that will aid medic’s triaging of injured Warfighter by autonomously retrieving the Warfighter’s vital signs (VS) without manual intervention by the medic. Pose sensing, assisted with overlaid human anatomy, triggers the retrieval of injured Warfighter’s vital signs by re-directing the eye-safe probing laser beam to the selected area judged to have the highest likelihood of sufficiently good VS detection SNR. The VS to be monitored include Heart Rate (HR), Respiration Rate (RR), Arterial Waveform (AWF), core body temperature (Tc), and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (BP). We propose the use of an Optical-Speckle-Tolerant Laser Vibrometer capable of retrieving the RR from the chest while the HR, AWF, and calculated systolic/diastolic BP will be retrieved from lower body like thigh or shin where signal perturbations from respiration will be minimal. Tc will be determined by integrated thermal imager. The high detection sensitivity and optical speckle tolerance of the proposed Brimrose laser vibrometer enables retrieval of afore-mentioned VS from the surface of the soldier’s clothing/footwear as skin exposure to the laser beam is not required. Deployment of photonics integrated circuit (PIC) will contribute to a ncLVSM with dimensions mimicking modern day cellphones. We have formed a team of experts who will tackle the issues of using PIC, including PIC design and minimization of optical coupling losses. AIM Photonics’ protocols will be deployed for PIC designs in Phase I with PIC device build in the Phase II program