From cardiac to respiratory rate, from cardiac sounds to pulse velocity: a noncontact unified approach for the monitoring of vital signs by means of optical vibrocardiography

In this paper we report experimental data obtained using a novel, non contact and unified approach for the monitoring of some important vital parameters: Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Respiration Rate, Filling Time, Pulse Transit Time. The measurement approach - named optical vibrocardiography (VCG) - has been recently described by some of the authors for what concerns the assessment of a single parameter or measurement and technical aspects. Here, we discuss the experimental setup realized to operate optical VCG in order to measure the previously cited vital parameters. We present two novel configurations for the assessment of the respiration rate and the pulse transit time. The quantities measured by optical VCG have been compared with the ones measured with golden standard instrumentations; the comparison reference instruments has shown differences with no statistical and clinical significance. Optical VCG therefore can be considered a valid, fully non-contact measurement method for the assessment of vital signs, with the additional advantage that such parameters can be assessed using one single instrument instead of a set of dedicated devices.