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January 22, 2026Sensors0 citationsOpen Access

A Practical Case of Monitoring Older Adults Using mmWave Radar and UWB

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GGGabriel García-GutiérrezEAElena Aparicio-EsteveJUJesús Ureña

Key Points

  • The aim is to develop a methodology for continuous monitoring of mobility indicators in older adults using mmWave radar and UWB technology.
  • Implemented a combined mmWave radar and UWB localization system in a senior living residence.
  • Used an adaptive detector to classify movements into occupancy and activity episodes.
  • Employed a Kalman filter for trajectory smoothing and deriving mobility metrics.
  • Successfully classified bedroom occupancy and detected non-sedentary activities.
  • Derived daily gait and mobility metrics from UWB data.
  • Demonstrated the potential for longitudinal monitoring in real-world elderly care settings.

Abstract

Population aging is driving the need for unobtrusive, continuous monitoring solutions in residential care environments. Radio-frequency (RF)-based technologies such as Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar are particularly attractive for providing detailed information on presence and movement while preserving privacy. Building on a UWB–mmWave localization system deployed in a senior living residence, this paper focuses on the data-processing methodology for extracting quantitative mobility indicators from long-term indoor monitoring data. The system combines a device-free mmWave radar setup in bedrooms and bathrooms with a tag-based UWB positioning system in common areas. For mmWave data, an adaptive short-term average/long-term average (STA/LTA) detector operating on an aggregated, normalized radar energy signal is used to classify micro- and macromovements into bedroom occupancy and non-sedentary activity episodes. For UWB data, a partially constrained Kalman filter with a nearly constant velocity dynamics model and floor-plan information yields smoothed trajectories, from which daily gait- and mobility-related metrics are derived. The approach is illustrated using one-day samples from three users as a proof of concept. The proposed methodology provides individualized indicators of bedroom occupancy, sedentary behavior, and mobility in shared spaces, supporting the feasibility of combined UWB and mmWave radar sensing for longitudinal routine analysis in real-world elderly care environments.

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Cite This Study

García-Gutiérrez et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6971bd26642b1836717e1e70https://doi.org/10.3390/s26020681
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