Zhilin Zhang

We address the sparse signal recovery problem in the context of multiple measurement vectors (MMV) when elements in each nonzero row of the solution matrix are temporally correlated. Existing algorithms do not consider such temporal correlation and thus their performance degrades significantly with the correlation. In this paper, we propose a block sparse Bayesian learning framework which models the temporal correlation. We derive two sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) algorithms, which have superior recovery performance compared to existing algorithms, especially in the presence of high temporal correlation. Furthermore, our algorithms are better at handling highly underdetermined problems and require less row-sparsity on the solution matrix. We also provide analysis of the global and local minima of their cost function, and show that the SBL cost function has the very desirable property that the global minimum is at the sparsest solution to the MMV problem. Extensive experiments also provide some interesting results that motivate future theoretical research on the MMV model.

Heart rate monitoring using wrist-type photoplethysmographic signals during subjects' intensive exercise is a difficult problem, since the signals are contaminated by extremely strong motion artifacts caused by subjects' hand movements. So far few works have studied this problem. In this study, a general framework, termed TROIKA, is proposed, which consists of signal decomposiTion for denoising, sparse signal RecOnstructIon for high-resolution spectrum estimation, and spectral peaK trAcking with verification. The TROIKA framework has high estimation accuracy and is robust to strong motion artifacts. Many variants can be straightforwardly derived from this framework. Experimental results on datasets recorded from 12 subjects during fast running at the peak speed of 15 km/h showed that the average absolute error of heart rate estimation was 2.34 beat per minute, and the Pearson correlation between the estimates and the ground truth of heart rate was 0.992. This framework is of great values to wearable devices such as smartwatches which use PPG signals to monitor heart rate for fitness.

We examine the recovery of block sparse signals and extend the recovery framework in two important directions; one by exploiting the signals' intra-block correlation and the other by generalizing the signals' block structure. We propose two families of algorithms based on the framework of block sparse Bayesian learning (BSBL). One family, directly derived from the BSBL framework, require knowledge of the block structure. Another family, derived from an expanded BSBL framework, are based on a weaker assumption on the block structure, and can be used when the block structure is completely unknown. Using these algorithms, we show that exploiting intra-block correlation is very helpful in improving recovery performance. These algorithms also shed light on how to modify existing algorithms or design new ones to exploit such correlation and improve performance.

Highly stretchable strain sensors based on conducting polymer hydrogel are rapidly emerging as a promising candidate toward diverse wearable skins and sensing devices for soft machines. However, due to the intrinsic limitations of low stretchability and large hysteresis, existing strain sensors cannot fully exploit their potential when used in wearable or robotic systems. Here, a conducting polymer hydrogel strain sensor exhibiting both ultimate strain (300%) and negligible hysteresis (<1.5%) is presented. This is achieved through a unique microphase semiseparated network design by compositing poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) nanofibers with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and facile fabrication by combining 3D printing and successive freeze-thawing. The overall superior performances of the strain sensor including stretchability, linearity, cyclic stability, and robustness against mechanical twisting and pressing are systematically characterized. The integration and application of such strain sensor with electronic skins are further demonstrated to measure various physiological signals, identify hand gestures, enable a soft gripper for objection recognition, and remote control of an industrial robot. This work may offer both promising conducting polymer hydrogels with enhanced sensing functionalities and technical platforms toward stretchable electronic skins and intelligent robotic systems.

GOAL: A new method for heart rate monitoring using photoplethysmography (PPG) during physical activities is proposed. METHODS: It jointly estimates the spectra of PPG signals and simultaneous acceleration signals, utilizing the multiple measurement vector model in sparse signal recovery. Due to a common sparsity constraint on spectral coefficients, the method can easily identify and remove the spectral peaks of motion artifact (MA) in the PPG spectra. Thus, it does not need any extra signal processing modular to remove MA as in some other algorithms. Furthermore, seeking spectral peaks associated with heart rate is simplified. RESULTS: Experimental results on 12 PPG datasets sampled at 25 Hz and recorded during subjects' fast running showed that it had high performance. The average absolute estimation error was 1.28 beat/min and the standard deviation was 2.61 beat/min. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that the method has great potential to be used for PPG-based heart rate monitoring in wearable devices for fitness tracking and health monitoring.