Publication

Abstract : Currently contact probes are widely used to determine the vital signs. As the medical technology develops, non-invasive method becomes more feasible. We are using a new non-contact method of determining pulse rate (PR) commonly known as video plethysmography technique. In this method, face video is captured using a web camera and from the captured video frames, photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals are obtained from different regions of the face based on the pixel intensity variation. This PPG signals are preprocessed by filtering and noise compensated using dynamic weight factoring based on power spectral density and from this finally obtained PPG signal, we are determining the pulse rate by converting it into Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). In this paper, we present an algorithm for pulse rate determination which can be easily implemented on portable device or on standard PC. This method of noncontact detection and monitoring of cardiac pulse is more useful in both hospitals and telemedicine.