Touch-free 'tricorder' takes vitals at a glance

Monitoring vital signs could be a question of analyzing subtle changes in skin tone, according to a research team at Rice University in the US who has developed a system to do exactly that.

Changes in color on the face that are imperceptible to the naked eye reveal changes in blood volume underneath the skin that belie pulse and breathing rate, according to the researchers.

The technique isn't new, but the gadget -- called DistancePPG -- employs algorithms that compensate for ambient light conditions and the patient's complexion and movement.

Study author Mayank Kumar of Rice and his team were aiming to find a way of monitoring squirming, wriggling newborns that didn't require attaching them to wires.

Video-camera technology existed that provided heartbeat and breath readings by detecting skin tone changes yet it worked only on Caucasians in bright rooms -- as long as they didn't move.

The team tweaked the system by creating a method to average skin-color change signals from different parts of the face and an algorithm that tracked the movement of noses, eyes, mouths and the entire face.

"Our key finding was that the strength of the skin-color change signal is different in different regions of the face, so we developed a weighted-averaging algorithm," says Kumar. "It improved the accuracy of derived vital signs, rapidly expanding the scope, viability, reach and utility of camera-based vital-sign monitoring."

DistancePPG gives an accurate heartbeat reading down to the last beat per minute, according to the paper, which was published in the journal Biomedical Optics Express.

Kumar says he expects the software to come to mobile devices such as phones and tablets upon which individuals can measure their vitals whenever they please.

To watch a video about the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jwGlLBxuH8&feature=youtu.be

DistancePPG is making headlines not long after the first of the ten finalists in the $10 Million Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, a competition that aims to make science fiction a reality, has revealed its technology.

Cloud DX unveiled a working prototype at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in March.

The prototype integrates a collar and earpiece, which monitors vital signs while the patient sleeps, and a universal diagnostic stick and combination-scanning wand.

Qualcomm Tricorder is a subdivision of the XPrize competition, challenging scientists and healthcare professionals to create a single gadget that can diagnose a set of 15 diseases and monitor vital signs, using the illustrious Tricorder from "Star Trek" as an ideal.