A Single-Channel Non-Orthogonal I/Q RF Sensor for Non-Contact Monitoring of Vital Signs

In order to remotely monitor the activities of heartbeat, respiration and body movement, this article designed and implemented a single-channel non-orthogonal in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) RF sensor, which works at the central frequency of 2.4 GHz. The designed RF sensor is based on a printed circuit board (PCB) antenna. Taking into account low cost, simple structure and easy fabrication, the antenna is designed and implemented with a special broad-band microstrip-tocoplanar strip line Balun structure by combining the transmitter with the receiver on a PCB to form one single antenna system. The gain of the sensor is 7.7 dB. The return loss is -22.7 dB at 2.4 GHz and the directionality of the antenna is satisfactory for monitoring vital signs. It has been validated that the designed sensor can detect the respiration, heartbeat and body movement accurately in comparison with the signals acquired by respiration sensor and pulse sensor.