Title: A robust photoplethysmographic imaging for contactless heart and respiratory rates measurement using a simple webcam

Authors: Djamaleddine Djeldjli; Fethi Bereksi Reguig; Choubeila Maaoui

Addresses: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Laboratoire Génie Biomédical (GBM), University of A.B. Belkaid-Tlemcen, Tlemcen, Algeria; Laboratoire de Conception, Optimisation et Modélisation des Systèmes (LCOMS), Université de Lorraine, Metz, France ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Laboratoire Génie Biomédical (GBM), University of A.B. Belkaid-Tlemcen, Tlemcen, Algeria ' Laboratoire de Conception, Optimisation et Modélisation des Systèmes (LCOMS), Université de Lorraine, Metz, France

Abstract: Video photoplethysmography has been an area of interest for researchers from different domains driven by the demand of low cost, comfortable, simple and portable technology for physiological parameters measurements. In this paper we propose a robust and simple method for remotely measure heart and respiratory activities through video photoplethysmographic (vPPG) signal recordings using a low-cost webcam. The vPPG signal is extracted from colour video recording of a human face in an ambient light environment. The image and signal processing operations are minimised and optimised. Three critical aspects which are performances, reduced computational time and low computational complexity are focused. Experimental heart rate, breathing rate, and heart rate variability obtained results on 20 healthy subjects show a high correlation with those obtained using an approved contact sensor. The heart rate error obtained with the proposed method is ±2 beats per minute (bpm), this value is acceptable for standard heart diagnosis diseases.

Keywords: ambient light; facial images; low-cost webcam; physiological parameters; photoplethysmography; PPG; video recording.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMEI.2021.114889

International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, 2021 Vol.13 No.3, pp.224 - 236

Received: 15 Oct 2018
Accepted: 11 May 2019
Published online: 11 May 2021 *

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