Distance PPG – RICE University Researchers Uses Video of Face to Track Health

Washington, DC: A touch-free and accurate video camera entitled Distance PPG has been developed by Rice University Indian American researchers in order to monitor patients’ vital signs just by looking at their faces instantly.

The Rice Scalable Health Initiative engineering researchers are working now on this system that has laid foundation in the past. With patient’s pulse, breathing, skin color change over time can be measured by the Rice version, Distance PPG whereas other targeted by low-light conditions, dark skin tones and movement.

Three Indian American researchers in team, Mayank Kumar, professors Ashok Veeraraghavan and Ashutosh Sabharwal Rice students developed this video based camera to let doctors diagnose patient disease. In the result of research process, Optical Society journal Biomedical Optics Express published details regarding this.

Now, with this video camera, doctors can monitor their patients’ vital signs through a video by analyzing subtle changes in the skin color. It is even applicable to different skin tones, changes in lighting and also movement. As it is an improvement, all the demerits have been removed and created in a new way.

Kumar, the project’s lead graduate researcher, said “Distance PPG will be particularly helpful to monitor premature infants for whom blood pressure cuffs or wired probes can pose a threat”.

He also said that this is his inspiration to lead the project and develop it in a best way. Hope this Distance PPG video based camera helps the doctors in monitoring the patient’s vital signs easily to diagnose the problem.