Ultra wideband (UWB) baby monitors for detection of infant cardiopulmonary distress

[0039]The Ultra-Wideband (UWB) monitoring systems described herein may also be referred to as medical radar systems. These systems allow for miniature, extremely low-power medical monitoring systems that are safe and effective. UWB medical radar is an active imaging technology similar in functional concept to ultrasound but is based on electromagnetic, rather than sonic energy. In practice, the systems described herein emit a micro-pulse of electromagnetic energy, typically on the order of one hundred picoseconds in duration, which propagates into the human body. As the energy enters the body, small amounts of the incident energy are reflected back to the device. The reflections are primarily a result of the differences in dielectric properties of the underlying tissues and organs, and can be detected as signals (“reflection signal energy”). The reflection signal energy is then received and processed using signal processing algorithms to extract information on the location, size, and r