My daily quest in scientific research always begins with a  picturesque one mile walk from my car to the office.

It’s normally breezy in the morning, so walking to “work” is always nice and pleasant. Now in the afternoon, that one mile walk quickly turns from pleasant to a work out. Lol! However, the work that I am doing and will be doing  this summer is worth every ounce of sweat.

This week’s work has focused on learning about PPG, DistancePPD, and learning to code using Python. Past research at Rice by Dr. Ashok Veeraraghvan and his team involving PPG (photoplethysmography) has focused on using PPG and a web camera to non-contact monitor vital statistics such as pulse rate (PR) and pulse rate variability (PRV).  DistancePPG detects the blood volume changes in the microvascular bed of tissues in the face. Their research focused on certain parts of the face, such as the forehead, checks, and under eye area.

However, this is what the patient interface can potentially look like.

Image above is From APP Using Your Webcam to Detect Your Heart and Breathing Rates, by J. Mulroy 2011,
https://www.pcworld.com/article/244211/app_uses_your_webcam_to_detect_your_heart_and_breathing_rates.htmlThere are several benefits of using DistancePPG and non-contact vital signs monitoring, especially in low-income and predominately minority communities. This type of vitals statistics monitoring can be (1) an invaluable tool for physicians who need to make rapid life-and-death decisions, (2) helpful to physicians and patients and allow them to making better informed decisions as patients’ long-term vital signs data is available (3) reduce the cost-of-care [especially since healthcare costs are very expansive for low income and minority communities).

My potential independent research for this project is taking this concept of DistancePPG using webcams and making it more accessible to the minority community by testing whether or not this concept can work using cameras on smartphones. The reason why I am choosing to focus on using smartphone cameras instead of webcams is because everyone in minority communities has access to a smartphone camera, while many do not have access to a webcam and/or a laptop.

So to begin my research, I have been looking at articles that already discuss the possible implication of using a smartphone camera with PPG. I have also started learning to code using Python.

Besides learning, I have also done some really fun things this week as well. One of the cool things that I had the opportunity to engage in this week was using a PATH-UPS 2018 research project that allowed me to find my pulse using a pulse sensor and Arduino code (see image below).  I also listened to a very interesting research presentations from the Scalable Health Lab Researchers. In my opinion the most intriguing presentation was about F.L.A.S.H. by Anil V. F.L.A.S.H. stands for Family Level Assessment of Screen-Use in the Home. The purpose of F.L.A.S.H. was to determine the amount time a specific child was looking at the T.V. screen.

Last by not least, I want to shout out my 2019 PATH-UPS peeps. Thank for your help, snacks, banter, and candor this week. See you next week!