Monitoring variations of biological impedances using microwave Doppler radar.
A microwave Doppler radar for continuously monitoring time-varying biological impedances is described. The radar compares the phase of the signal scattered from a region of biological tissue with that of the transmitted signal. The phase changes of the scattered signal are an indication of the net impedance changes within the test region due to various physiological processes, for example, the displacements of blood vessels during the cardiac cycle. A Doppler radar, equipped with a matched antenna, was tested with a simulation model and its detection characteristic was found to be a sinusoidal function of the antenna-object spacing. Tests with healthy human subjects were also performed at 3 GHz and 10.5 GHz. It was found that the 3 GHz Doppler radar has significantly greater penetration in tissues but is less sensitive to changes of the biological impedance than the 10.5 GHz system.
D004301:Doppler Effect; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006801:Humans; D008872:Microwaves; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011825:Radar / Q000295:instrumentation*