Hearables: Multimodal physiological in-ear sensing

TLDR

Future health systems require continuous, multimodal monitoring of neural and physiological function, yet existing devices lack cross‑modal capability and are often inconvenient or stigmatizing. The study proposes an inconspicuous earpiece that leverages the stable ear‑canal position to overcome these monitoring challenges. The earpiece contains miniature multimodal sensors that measure brain, cardiac, and respiratory functions, and experiments validate each modality with case studies demonstrating wearable health monitoring. Experiments show that integrating multimodal sensor data in the earpiece improves measurement accuracy and artifact handling in real‑world scenarios, and case studies illustrate its wearable health monitoring potential.

Abstract

Abstract Future health systems require the means to assess and track the neural and physiological function of a user over long periods of time, and in the community. Human body responses are manifested through multiple, interacting modalities – the mechanical, electrical and chemical; yet, current physiological monitors (e.g. actigraphy, heart rate) largely lack in cross-modal ability, are inconvenient and/or stigmatizing. We address these challenges through an inconspicuous earpiece, which benefits from the relatively stable position of the ear canal with respect to vital organs. Equipped with miniature multimodal sensors, it robustly measures the brain, cardiac and respiratory functions. Comprehensive experiments validate each modality within the proposed earpiece, while its potential in wearable health monitoring is illustrated through case studies spanning these three functions. We further demonstrate how combining data from multiple sensors within such an integrated wearable device improves both the accuracy of measurements and the ability to deal with artifacts in real-world scenarios.