Noncontact monitoring of blood oxygen saturation using camera

1. A device for non-contact measurement of blood oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) in a human subject having a face, comprising:

a camera;

a microcontroller;

an illumination system, coupled to receive control signals from the microcontroller, consisting of a first LED array placed proximate the left side of the camera and a second LED array symmetrically placed proximate the right side of the camera each of the first and second LED arrays having a first plurality of rows of NIR LEDs emitting near infrared (NIR) light, and a second plurality of rows of orange LEDs emitting orange light alternating with the first plurality of rows of NIR LEDs, where the first and second LED arrays are located in optical paths adapted to transmit reflected light from the face to the camera;

wherein the microcontroller is connected to the first and second LED arrays to generate control signals for alternately switching the NIR LEDs and orange LEDs on and off for both the first and second LED arrays;

wherein the microcontroller is also coupled to transmit a camera trigger to the camera, where the camera generates video signal values sensed from the reflected light where the reflected light includes pulsatile components and non-pulsatile components;

a processor for receiving the video signal values from the camera; and

wherein the processor determines SpO 2 values that are proportional to the ratios of the absorbance of the NIR LEDs and the orange LEDs as transmitted in the reflected light.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the NIR LEDS comprise a plurality of LEDs having an emitted nominal wavelength of 880 nm, and the orange LEDs have an emitted wavelength in the range of 590 nm to 635 nm.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the camera captures an image at the camera's trigger signal rising edge when either the NIR or the orange LEDs are illuminated.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the camera comprises a monochromatic camera.

5. The device of claim 3 , wherein the camera captures an image at 10 frames/s.

6. A method for non-contact measurement of blood oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) in a human subject having a face, comprising:

locating an illumination system consisting of a first LED array and a second LED array placed respectively on the left and right sides of a camera each of the first and second LED arrays having alternating rows of NIR LEDs emitting near infrared (NIR), and orange LEDs emitting orange light in an optical path adapted to transmit reflected light from the face to the camera;

transmitting reflected light from the face to the camera by alternately illuminating the NIR LEDs and orange LEDs for both the first and second LED arrays;

operating the camera to capture the reflected light to produce a plurality of video signal values;

processing the video signal values from the camera, wherein the video signal values include pulsatile components and non-pulsatile components; and

determining SpO 2 values from the video signal values as proportional to the ratios of the absorbance of the NIR light and the orange light after they are emitted from the first and second LED arrays and then reflected from the face.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein illuminating the first and second arrays of LEDs comprises illuminating the rows of NIR LEDS including a plurality of LEDs having a nominal emitted wavelength centered around 880 nm, and the rows of orange LEDs including an emitted wavelength in the range of 590 nm to 635 nm.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein operating the camera comprises transmitting camera trigger signals to the camera.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein operating the camera further comprises capturing an image when the camera's trigger signal produces a rising edge when either the NIR or the orange LEDs are illuminated.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the act of capturing an image comprises capturing a monochromatic image.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the act of capturing an image comprises capturing reflected light from a region of interest including upper and lower lips of the face.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the region of interest comprises an area of 160 pixels×120 pixels around the upper and lower lips.