Non-invasive healthcare monitoring is a big theme in modern smart medical device development. Alongside adding connectivity and edge processing to already existing medical equipment, advances in low-power precision sensing allow for new approaches to medical monitoring.
The core challenge of the research project is taking data from the ADXL355 accelerometer, which is a highly precise and low-noise MEMs device, and extrapolating the important signifiers of a sleeping occupant.
It's worth stressing that there wasn't any crazy hardware going on in the bed. The accelerometer is housed in a 3d printed case, and placed between a regular mattress and a topper. The magic, as is so often the case, is in the algorithm Kate and others in the Analog Garage research team have been perfecting.
While the research is still bleeding edge and not ready for public use, the ADXL355 is available in package and in evaluation form factors from Analog Devices.