The Use of MEMS Accelerometers for Remote Activity and Living Parameters Monitoring

In the paper a ballistocardiographic sensor for remote monitoring of activity and vital parameters is presented. The sensor is mainly intended for use in monitoring systems supporting care of older people. It allows to detect occupancy of a piece of furniture, to which it is attached and to estimate basic vital parameters (heart and respiration rates) of the monitored person. The presented device includes three inertial sensors: two accelerometers of different parameters and prices and one reference BCG module. The device sends the measurement results to the external server over WiFi. The vital parameters are estimated based on the Continuous Wavelet Transform of the registered acceleration signals. User's presence is detected by tracking changes in acceleration measured in axes parallel to the ground.