Noncontact Detection of Bioelectric Fields

Project goal: To design, build and test a non-contact bio-electric field detector that can display, record and monitor a person’s electrocardiogram. The design uses an ultra-sensitive shielded capacitor to detect the subtle change in voltage from the heart through air and skin. The capacitor analog output is converted to a digital output, filtered for noise, and then relayed to a computer to display the final electrocardiogram, or EKG,on the screen. The design allows two live electrocardiogram signals to be simultaneously displayed on the computer from two individual hearts. The device operates with a separation distance of 10 centimeters from the chest to the detector. Applications could include monitoring vital signs of pilots, a less intrusive test for children, and measurement of cardiac changes without affecting the patient under study.