An Advanced Sensor Fusion Based Crew Health Monitoring System

Physiologic monitoring of the crew in human exploration missions is of crucial importance to evaluate and understand the health and emotional state of crew members. Currently, such monitoring involves the use of crew-worn bio-sensors, which have inherent disadvantages and limitations. NASA is interested in the development of advanced crew-monitoring technology that will make use of monitoring technology installed in the space vehicle to continuously monitor the crew's physiologic parameters remotely, without need for crew intervention. The technology to be developed should leverage technology provided by the vehicle infrastructure and not require additional resources. To address this critical need, X-wave Innovations, Inc. propose an advanced sensor fusion based framework for crew health monitoring. We will leverage on-board technology such as HD video, infra-red cameras, and additional sensors to monitor and acquire crew physiologic data. Advanced sensor fusion algorithms will be used to combine the acquired data and characterize the health and emotional state of the crew members. Using known baseline values for different physiologic parameters for each crew member, the sensor fusion algorithm will detect and notify if any anomalous physiologic signatures are found. During the Phase I program, we will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technology by developing a prototype sensor fusion framework that uses HD video, infra red camera images, and microphone audio to characterize the health of human subjects. During the Phase II program, we will develop a fully functional framework for continuous crew health monitoring. We will update and improve all aspects of the sensor fusion algorithms, and incorporate several sensors for monitoring. We will also develop algorithms to differentiate between multiple crew members and monitor their separate and individual health states.

The developed sensor fusion based technology will provide great advantage in crew health monitoring in NASA human exploration missions, especially beyond low earth orbit. Whereas current technology requires crew time investment and needs crew-worn bio-sensors, the proposed technology allows remote monitoring of the crew without any input required from them. This technology supports and advances NASA's medical and crew health maintenance capabilities and the Commercial Crew Program.

The developed technology for continuous non-contact health monitoring is applicable in several application domains:monitor patients without encumbering them with wired sensors, or to monitor human workers in potentially stressful situations. It can be adapted for industrial and engineering inspection applications, to monitor and evaluate material characteristics using remote inspection methods.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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