Wearable Healthcare Monitoring System

(WHMS)
We propose to build a prototype of a wearable healthcare monitoring system based on FPGA
platform which will be able to measure the heartbeat, electrodermal activity (EDA) and along
with the temperature and humidity of the human body. A bracelet with all the required sensors,
called Measuring Unit, is placed around the arm of the human body and the gathered information
from sensors is sent to the Base Station, with the help of radio transceivers, where it will be
analyzed, displayed and can be interpreted.

Title of the Project (Individual Project): Development of FPGA based Wearable Healthcare
monitoring system.

Project Details

a) Aim and Objective:

Knowing the limits of a human body can help improve performance and avoid extortion
scenarios. The proposed project aims at developing a low cost prototype of a Wearable
Healthcare Monitoring System. The project will be built to monitor Electrodermal activity
(EDA) and Heartbeat rate of the human body.

The motivation behind of choosing this project is to facilitate the patients in the remote
locations of northeast regions in getting healthcare services which might not be possible
otherwise due to very low doctor-to-patient ratio.

b) Detailed description:

By examining the electrodermal activity(EDA) and the hearth beat rate the system
will be able to inform about the wellness of the human body, the data generated from the system
can be utilized to scrutinize various parameters such as anxiety, stress, illness, and ingestion of
drugs.

A bracelet with Galvanic Skin Response, Heartbeat Rate along with temperature
and humidity sensors attached to controller called Measuring Unit, is placed around the arm of
the subject. The gathered information from sensors is sent to the Base Station, with the help of
radio transceivers, where in the processing system it will be analyzed, displayed and can be
interpreted. A warning system will be built to set an alert signal under any abnormality
circumstances.
Fig. 3 Basic buildings blocks of the proposed Wearable Healthcare Monitoring System.
(Measuring Unit)

Fig. 4 Basic buildings blocks of the proposed Wearable Healthcare Monitoring System. (Base
Station)

The system is composed of two modules one is named as Base station placed at a secured
location and another as Measuring Unit which is wired with the patient. The Measuring Unit is
equipped with a processor and a high precision ADC which samples the analog data of skin
impedance, heart rate, temperature and humidity of the subject’s body. Then, the digitalized data
will be transmitted via RF module wirelessly for being further processed and analysis.

The Base Station comprises of the processing unit where it will be interfaced with a
memory, display module and along with a computer interface for storage, display and
investigation of the data.

The proposed project has abundant potential for enhancements like adding new
parameters to be measured ECG, Blood pressure, Pulse and Oxygen in blood, EMG etc. The
system can also be extended to have many nodes, this mean it has possibility to monitor a big
number of persons. And also connection to a database to accumulate patients data to see their
variation and person’s evolution for a long time period.
Following are the goals of this project:

In the First Phase we will be designing a prototype in a Microcontroller based environment will
all the proposed functionalities after the successful operation of the system we will be advancing
for FPGA level implantation of the WHMS.

Phase I: Microcontroller level implementation WHMS

Phase II: FPGA level implementation of WHMS

1. Sensors Specification

Skin Heart Rate Temperature and Humidity

Parameters
(GSR sensor) (PAH8001EI-2G) (SHT31)

NTC (Temp.)
Sensor type Resistive Optical Sensor
Capacitive (Humidity)

30 – 210
Range 40° to +125°C
0.1 – 1000 micro siemens bpm
0 - 100% RH

Supply Voltage 3.3 V 3.3 V 3.3V

Power
Low power (mW) 4.95 mW 2.6 mW
consumption

0.001 micro Siemens

0.015°C
Resolution Sensitivity adjustable via a High sensitivity
0.01 %RH
potentiometer

Body Temperature and

Constraint Skin conductance Heart Rate Detection
Humidity

Operating Temperature -40 to 80°C -40 to 60°C -40 to125°C

Interface NA I2C,SPI(1 Mbit/s) I2C(speeds 1MHZ)
Output Analog Digital Digital
Compatible Programmable Standard
Standard MCUs/FPGA Standard MCUs/FPGA
Boards (CPB) MCU/FPGA
GSR sensor

Introduction

GSR, standing for galvanic skin response, is a method of measuring the electrical conductance of
the skin. Strong emotion can cause stimulus to your sympathetic nervous system, resulting more
sweat being secreted by the sweat glands. Grove – GSR allows you to spot such strong emotions
by simple attaching two electrodes to two fingers on one hand, an interesting gear to create
emotion related projects, like sleep quality monitor.

Reference

These are several graphs which are created in excel using GSR data.
Finger-clip Heart Rate Sensor with shell

Description

Grove - Finger-clip Heart Rate Sensor with shell shell is based on PAH8001EI-2G, a high
performance and low power CMOS-process optical sensor with Green LED and DSP integrated
serving as a Heart Rate Detection(HRD) sensor. This module is based on optical technology
which measures the variation human blood movement in the vessel. Low power consumption
and flexible power saving mode make it suitable for wearable device.

Features:

Ultra-low power consumption power saving mode during time of no touch movement
With tow bandages and 3D printing shell
I2C standard interface
Integrated chip-on-board LED with wavelength of 525nm
Suitable for finger or wrist

PAH8001EI-2G: Optical heart beat sensor

The heart rate detection of PAH8001 is based on optical measurement technique that uses a light
source and a detector to detect cardio-vascular pulse wave that propagates through body. The
detected signal (pulse wave) is called photo plethysmography and its acronym in some literatures
is PPG or PTG. The PPG signal reflects the blood movement in the vessel, which goes from the
heart to the fingertips through the blood vessels in a wave-like motion. Therefore, we can use
this PPG signal to estimate heart rate. This optical based technology could offer significant
benefits to healthcare application as it is noninvasive yet accurate and simple to use.
Temperature & Humidity Sensor (SHT31)

The SHT31 sensor could be the finest and highest-accuracy humidity sensor you can find, as it
can acquire the relative humidity at only ±2% error. On the other side it also features an excellent
performance in terms of temperature measurement, you can use it in some extreme conditions,
like -40 degree or 125 degree, and it still keeps an accuracy of ±0.3 degree.

SHT31

Humidity and Temperature Sensor

 Fully calibrated, linearized, and temperature
 compensated digital output
 Wide supply voltage range, from 2.4 V to 5.5 V
 I2C Interface with communication speeds up to 1
 MHz and two user selectable addresses
 Typical accuracy of +/- 1.5 %RH and +/- 0.2 °C for
 SHT35
 Very fast start-up and measurement time
 Tiny 8-Pin DFN package
PmodAD2: 4-channel 12-bit A/D Converter:

The PmodAD2 is an analog-to-digital converter powered by the Analog Devices AD7991. Users
may communicate with the board through I2C to configure up to 4 conversion channels at 12 bits
of resolution.

Features:

Up to four 12-bit analog to digital converter channels

On-board 2.048 V voltage reference
Jumper selectable reference input

Interfacing with the Pmod AD2

The PmodAD2 communicates with the host board via the I²C protocol. System boards are able to
call the Pmod by sending out the device address of 0b0101000 followed by the appropriate read
or write bit. If a write bit is chosen, users may then configure the on-board chip to only use
certain channels or may immediately start reading the 12 bits of data from the 16 bit data register
if the read bit is sent.

Unlike other devices that use I²C no addresses are associated with these two registers; only the
read/write bit at the end of the slave address distinguishes between the two registers. By default
all four channels have analog-to-digital conversions performed on them sequentially with the
supply voltage VCC acting as the voltage reference for the ADC.

After each conversion is performed, the device places itself into power-down mode. Upon a read
command, the device will wake itself up and prepare for a conversion which takes approximately
0.6 μs. The actual conversion process takes approximately 1.0 μs.
Pinout Description Table

Pin Signal Description

1&5 SCL Serial Clock
2&6 SDA Serial Data
3&7 GND Power Supply Ground
4&8 VCC Power Supply (3.3V/5V)

Any external power applied to the PmodAD2 must be within 2.7V and 5.5V; however, it is
recommended that Pmod is operated at 3.3V.
Analog Devices AD7991

Parameters AD7991
Supply Voltage, Vdd 2.7V to 5.5V
Number of Bits 12 ADC with fast conversion time: 1 μs typical

Channels 4 analog input channels/3 analog input channels with reference

input
Interface I2C compatible serial interface supports standard, fast, and
High-speed modes

Power consumption 1.38mW(Fully operational)

Positive reference voltage, Vref+ 2.5V
Type SAR
Clock frequency 3.4 MHz
Operating temperature −40°C to 125°C
Arduino Nano

The Arduino Nano is a small, complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on the
ATmega328.

Specifications:

Microcontroller Atmel ATmega328

Operating Voltage (logic level) 5V
Input Voltage (recommended) 7-12 V
Input Voltage (limits) 6-20 V
Digital I/O Pins 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins 8
DC Current per I/O Pin 40 mA
Flash Memory 32 KB (ATmega328) of which 2 KB used by bootloader
SRAM 2 KB (ATmega328)
EEPROM 1 KB (ATmega328)
Clock Speed 16 MHz
Dimensions 0.73" x 1.70"
Length 45 mm
Width 18 mm
Weigth 5g

Input and Output

Each of the 14 digital pins on the Nano can be used as an input or output, using pinMode(),
digitalWrite(), and digitalRead() functions. They operate at 5 volts. Each pin can provide or
receive a maximum of 40 mA and has an internal pull-up resistor (disconnected by default) of
20-50 kOhms. In addition, some pins have specialized functions:

Serial: 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. These pins
are connected to the corresponding pins of the FTDI USB-to-TTL Serial chip.

External Interrupts: 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low value,
a rising or falling edge, or a change in value. See the attachInterrupt() function for details.

PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analogWrite() function.
SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK). These pins support SPI communication, which,
although provided by the underlying hardware, is not currently included in the Arduino
language.

LED: 13. There is a built-in LED connected to digital pin 13. When the pin is HIGH value, the
LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off.

The Nano has 8 analog inputs, each of which provide 10 bits of resolution (i.e. 1024 different
values). By default they measure from ground to 5 volts, though is it possible to change the
upper end of their range using the analogReference() function. Analog pins 6 and 7 cannot be
used as digital pins. Additionally, some pins have specialized functionality:

I2C: A4 (SDA) and A5 (SCL). Support I2C (TWI) communication using the Wire library
There are a couple of other pins on the board:

AREF. Reference voltage for the analog inputs. Used with analogReference().

Reset. Bring this line LOW to reset the microcontroller. Typically used to add a reset button to
shields which block the one on the board.

Communication

The Arduino Nano has a number of facilities for communicating with a computer, another
Arduino, or other microcontrollers. The ATmega168 and ATmega328 provide UART TTL (5V)
serial communication, which is available on digital pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). An FTDI FT232RL
on the board channels this serial communication over USB and the FTDI drivers (included with
the Arduino software) provide a virtual com port to software on the computer. The Arduino
software includes a serial monitor which allows simple textual data to be sent to and from the
Arduino board. The RX and TX LEDs on the board will flash when data is being transmitted via
the FTDI chip and USB connection to the computer (but not for serial communication on pins 0
and 1).

A SoftwareSerial library allows for serial communication on any of the Nano's digital pins.

The ATmega168 and ATmega328 also support I2C (TWI) and SPI communication. The Arduino
software includes a Wire library to simplify use of the I2C bus; see the documentation for
details. To use the SPI communication, please see the ATmega168 or ATmega328 datasheet.
Basys 3 Artix-7 FPGA Trainer Board

The Basys 3 is an entry-level FPGA development board designed exclusively for the Vivado
Design Suite featuring the Xilinx Artix-7-FPGA architecture. Basys 3 is the newest addition to
the popular Basys line of FPGA development boards for students or beginners just getting started
with FPGA technology. The Basys 3 includes the standard features found on all Basys boards:
complete ready-to-use hardware, a large collection of on-board I/O devices, all required FPGA
support circuits, and a free version of development tools.

Improvements include:

More I/O:

Double the user interface switches, double the number of onboard outputs, upgraded the number
of external ports (moving from 6-pin single-row Pmods to 12-pin double-row Pmods) and
included for the first time on a Basys class device a USB-UART bridge.

Modern Architecture = Modern Programming Challenges:

Due to the migration from the Spartan-3E family to the Artix-7 class of device, the Basys 3
offers a substantial increase in hardware capabilities. With the new Artix FPGA comes 15X the
logic cells (from 2,160 to 33,280) and the upgrade from multipliers to true DSP slices. It also
adds over 26X the amount of RAM.

Industry's First SOC Strength Design Suite:

The most significant change to the Basys 3 is the upgrade to Xilinx Vivado Design Suite, the
most modern design tool chain used by professional engineers worldwide. Compared to ISE,
Vivado offers an improved user experience and expanded capabilities. These capabilities include
block-based IP integration (which can reduce development time up to 10x) and the Vivado
Logic/Serial I/O analyzer.
Device/IC: Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA (XC7A35T-1CPG236C)

Connector(s):

 USB A
 USB micro-B
 Four 12-pin Pmod ports
 VGA
 Programming: Designed exclusively for the Vivado Design Suite

Features:

 Features the Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA: XC7A35T-1CPG236C

 33,280 logic cells in 5200 slices (each slice contains four 6-input LUTs and 8 flip-flops)
 1,800 Kbits of fast block RAM
 Five clock management tiles, each with a phase-locked loop (PLL)
 90 DSP slices
 Internal clock speeds exceeding 450 MHz
 On-chip analog-to-digital converter (XADC)
 Digilent USB-JTAG port for FPGA programming and communication
 Designed Exclusively for Vivado Design Suite.
 Serial Flash
 USB-UART Bridge
 12-bit VGA output
 USB HID Host for mice, keyboards and memory sticks
 16 user switches
 16 user LEDs
 5 user pushbuttons
 4-digit 7-segment display
 4 Pmod ports: 3 Standard 12-pin Pmod ports, 1 dual purpose XADC signal / standard
Pmod port
ZedBoard Zynq-7000 ARM/FPGA SoC Development Board

ZedBoard is a low-cost development board for the Xilinx Zynq-7000 all programmable
SoC (AP SoC).

Take advantage of the Zynq-7000 AP SoCs tightly coupled ARM processing system and
7-series programmable logic to create unique and powerful designs with the ZedBoard.
Target applications include embedded ARM processing, and general Zynq-7000 AP SoC
prototyping.

Processor/IC: Xilinx Zynq-7000 AP SoC XC7Z020-CLG484

Target Applications:

Embedded ARM processing

General Zynq-7000 AP SoC prototyping

Features:

Xilinx Zynq-7000 AP SoC XC7Z020-CLG484

Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9

512 MB DDR3
256 MB Quad-SPI Flash
4 GB SD card
Onboard USB-JTAG Programming
10/100/1000 Ethernet
USB OTG 2.0 and USB-UART
Analog Devices ADV7511 High Performance 225 MHz HDMI Transmitter
PS & PL I/O expansion (FMC, Pmod, XADC)
PmodRF2: IEEE 802.15 RF Transceiver

The PmodRF2 adds RF communication through the Microchip MRF24J40 IEEE

802.15.4 2.4GHz RF transceiver module. By communicating with the device through
SPI, users can transmit data at speeds up to 625 kbps through the ZigBee.

Features:

IEEE 802.15-compliant RF transceiver

Supports ZigBee, MiWi and MiWi P2P wireless networking protocols
ISM band 2.405-2.48 GHz operation
Integrated 20 MHz and 32.768 oscillator circuitry
Small PCB size for flexible designs 1.2“ × 0.8” (3.0 cm × 2.0 cm)
12-pin Pmod connector with SPI interface

MRF24J40

MRF24J40 is a complete IEEE 802.15.4 radio and operates in the 2.4GHz freq band.

Features

Complete IEEE 802.15.4 radio

Supports ZigBee™ and MiWi™ protocols
Simple four-wire SPI interface
Integrated 20 MHz and 32.768 kHz oscillator drive
Low current consumption
Hardware CSMA-CA Mechanism
Automatic ACK response
Hardware security engine (AES-128)
Automatic packet retransmit capable
Small 40-pin leadless QFN 6x6 mm2 package