A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion
The radar-based analysis of human motion is actively being researched due to its contact- and markerless nature and ability to measure motion directly via the Doppler effect. Especially in medical and biomechanical fields, precise movement analysis is crucial. However, existing radar-based studies t...
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IEEE
2024-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Journal of Microwaves |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10706625/ |
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| author | Johanna Braunig Simon Heinrich Birte Coppers Christoph Kammel Vanessa Wirth Marc Stamminger Sigrid Leyendecker Anna-Maria Liphardt Ingrid Ullmann Martin Vossiek |
| author_facet | Johanna Braunig Simon Heinrich Birte Coppers Christoph Kammel Vanessa Wirth Marc Stamminger Sigrid Leyendecker Anna-Maria Liphardt Ingrid Ullmann Martin Vossiek |
| author_sort | Johanna Braunig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The radar-based analysis of human motion is actively being researched due to its contact- and markerless nature and ability to measure motion directly via the Doppler effect. Especially in medical and biomechanical fields, precise movement analysis is crucial. However, existing radar-based studies typically exhibit low lateral resolution, focusing on velocity evaluations and the tracking of scattering centers resolvable in the range or Doppler domains. In this work, we present a novel concept that enables a pixel-wise velocity analysis of human motion in radar near-field imaging scenarios. For this, we utilize the well-established back-projection technique to reconstruct consecutive radar images and perform a subsequent pixel-wise phase comparison. To accurately capture pixel-specific velocities along the depth dimension, this is followed by corrections of near-field geometry distortions accounting for aperture properties and pixel positions. Our theoretical derivations are supported by comprehensive point target simulations. To assess the performance of the proposed approach, we conducted a proof-of-concept study. We tracked a hand surface's movement while performing a finger tapping motion and compared the fingertip position and velocity determined by the radar with the respective values obtained from an optical marker-based system. The results showed a velocity measurement accuracy of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8.1 \,\mathrm{mms}^{-1}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and a tracking accuracy of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.4 \,\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}$</tex-math></inline-formula>, demonstrating the great potential of our approach. The high angular resolution of the velocity measurement enables the tracking of the entire illuminated body shell, extending the range of future applications of radar-based motion analysis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-63ef9c471d0449b1837005bff89481b9 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2692-8388 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Journal of Microwaves |
| spelling | doaj-art-63ef9c471d0449b1837005bff89481b92025-08-20T02:34:55ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Microwaves2692-83882024-01-014463965210.1109/JMW.2024.345357010706625A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human MotionJohanna Braunig0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2276-272XSimon Heinrich1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3701-4695Birte Coppers2https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2750-8726Christoph Kammel3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7870-7661Vanessa Wirth4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8295-3021Marc Stamminger5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8699-3442Sigrid Leyendecker6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8585-2725Anna-Maria Liphardt7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0739-1959Ingrid Ullmann8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3145-4959Martin Vossiek9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8369-345XInstitute of Microwaves and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyInstitute of Applied Dynamics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyDepartment of Internal Medicine 3 – Rheumatology and Immunology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, GermanyInstitute of Microwaves and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyChair of Visual Computing, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyChair of Visual Computing, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyInstitute of Applied Dynamics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyDepartment of Internal Medicine 3 – Rheumatology and Immunology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, GermanyInstitute of Microwaves and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyInstitute of Microwaves and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GermanyThe radar-based analysis of human motion is actively being researched due to its contact- and markerless nature and ability to measure motion directly via the Doppler effect. Especially in medical and biomechanical fields, precise movement analysis is crucial. However, existing radar-based studies typically exhibit low lateral resolution, focusing on velocity evaluations and the tracking of scattering centers resolvable in the range or Doppler domains. In this work, we present a novel concept that enables a pixel-wise velocity analysis of human motion in radar near-field imaging scenarios. For this, we utilize the well-established back-projection technique to reconstruct consecutive radar images and perform a subsequent pixel-wise phase comparison. To accurately capture pixel-specific velocities along the depth dimension, this is followed by corrections of near-field geometry distortions accounting for aperture properties and pixel positions. Our theoretical derivations are supported by comprehensive point target simulations. To assess the performance of the proposed approach, we conducted a proof-of-concept study. We tracked a hand surface's movement while performing a finger tapping motion and compared the fingertip position and velocity determined by the radar with the respective values obtained from an optical marker-based system. The results showed a velocity measurement accuracy of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8.1 \,\mathrm{mms}^{-1}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and a tracking accuracy of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.4 \,\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}$</tex-math></inline-formula>, demonstrating the great potential of our approach. The high angular resolution of the velocity measurement enables the tracking of the entire illuminated body shell, extending the range of future applications of radar-based motion analysis.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10706625/Human motion trackingnear-field imagingradar imagingvelocity measurement |
| spellingShingle | Johanna Braunig Simon Heinrich Birte Coppers Christoph Kammel Vanessa Wirth Marc Stamminger Sigrid Leyendecker Anna-Maria Liphardt Ingrid Ullmann Martin Vossiek A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion IEEE Journal of Microwaves Human motion tracking near-field imaging radar imaging velocity measurement |
| title | A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion |
| title_full | A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion |
| title_fullStr | A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion |
| title_short | A Radar-Based Concept for Simultaneous High-Resolution Imaging and Pixel-Wise Velocity Analysis for Tracking Human Motion |
| title_sort | radar based concept for simultaneous high resolution imaging and pixel wise velocity analysis for tracking human motion |
| topic | Human motion tracking near-field imaging radar imaging velocity measurement |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10706625/ |
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