Sleep is a biological imperative for humans. Insufficient or disordered sleep increases daytime fatigue and sleepiness, decreases cognitive function. Unfortunately, there are numerous challenges associated with accurate sleep assessment. These include difficulties in making measurements without interfering with the sleep process, unique baseline characteristics for individuals, and cumbersome manual analysis of lengthy data sets. In the laboratory environment, Doppler radar technology has been demonstrated to provide a non-invasive means of measuring vital signs through clothing and bedding. We propose to develop a radar-based measurement system can be used to provide autonomous in-home measurement and analysis of sleep. The proposed effort will advance knowledge in smart radar technology measuring physiology, big data analytics for personalized medicine; and the understanding of sleep physiology. It will also support potential technological breakthroughs at their intersection, including new diagnostic techniques for smart connected health.
This project bridges fundamental research and sleep research together by exploring radar technology-based solutions for bio-medical and bio-behavioral sleep medicine research challenges. The proposed research will advance knowledge and understanding of Doppler radar physiological monitoring by introducing new transceiver architectures to accurately resolve requisite cross-section and displacement parameters while isolating one of two jointly sensed subjects, and new deep learning models integrating with physical models for recognition of apnea events and sleep disorders at personalized level. It will advance sleep medicine by introducing this non-contact tool that can extend patient monitoring to the home and provide patient-centered analysis. It will also support potential technological breakthroughs at their intersection, including new diagnostic techniques for smart connected health. The research poses a motivating educational opportunity that leverages the unique needs of Hawaiians for remote healthcare tools, and reaches out to a diverse population of ethnic minority students that have been historically under-served by local educational and industrial opportunities. Research outcomes will be integrated with education through training a new generation of engineers with the awareness of healthcare issues through courses (biomedical, sensors and informatics courses), undergraduate research projects, and K-12 STEM outreach activities.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
