Highly sensitive driver health condition monitoring system using nonintrusive active electrodes

The proposed electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement system uses a nonintrusive ECG sensor with electrically active electrodes to measure an ECG signal without any noise effects. In this manner, the optimal position and size of the active electrodes attached to a car seat can be selected from several practical scenarios considering the physical position of the subject's heart to minimize the noise effects for the nonintrusive ECG measurement system in the car. The ECG signals from a clothed and seated occupant of the automobile are measured at a sampling rate of 100 Hz. A signal conditioning circuit was also designed to reduce the noise effects generated by the internal circuitry. The ECG signals are measured and transmitted wirelessly to a base station connected to a server PC in a personal area network for signal processing. The driver's condition is monitored wirelessly and analyzed by performing a heart rate variability analysis in the time and frequency domains.