Modeling of human thorax and study on human heart activity with UWB radar from UHF to S-band

Abstract

This paper presents an electromagnetic wave propagation model of a human thorax and also an estimation of the propagation characteristics of the model for frequencies ranging from UHF to S-band. As the heart size varies in a cardiac cycle, the characteristic variation of the propagation parameters such as reflection coefficient, signal attenuation etc., which depend on the wave propagation distances and frequency dependent dielectric properties of human body tissues are calculated. This is performed using the analytical impedance transformation method to account for the effect of multiple reflections. This estimation will be useful for the frequency dependent power budget analysis in the design of an ultra-wideband radar based contactless, non-invasive diagnostic tool for study of human cardiac activity.