Wearable breath monitoring via a hot-film/calorimetric airflow sensing system

Tao Jiang; Lirong Deng; Wenying Qiu; Jiaming Liang; Yichuan Wu; Zhichun Shao; Dongkai Wang; Min Zhang; Xiang Qian; Junwen Zhong; Xiaohao Wang; Liwei Lin

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2020.112288

Wearable breath monitoring via a hot-film/calorimetric airflow sensing system

Biosens Bioelectron. 2020 Sep 1:163:112288. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112288. Epub 2020 May 18.

Authors

Tao Jiang¹, Lirong Deng², Wenying Qiu¹, Jiaming Liang³, Yichuan Wu⁴, Zhichun Shao⁵, Dongkai Wang³, Min Zhang⁶, Xiang Qian⁷, Junwen Zhong⁸, Xiaohao Wang⁹, Liwei Lin¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Sensors and Microsystems Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Tsinghua-Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
² Shenzhen Environmental Science and New Energy Technology Engineering Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
³ Sensors and Microsystems Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁴ School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
⁵ Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁶ Tsinghua-Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
⁷ Tsinghua-Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China. Electronic address: qian.xiang@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn.
⁸ Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Macau, Macao, 999078, China. Electronic address: junwenzhong@um.edu.mo.
⁹ Sensors and Microsystems Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Tsinghua-Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
¹⁰ Sensors and Microsystems Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. Electronic address: lwlin@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 32568695
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112288

Abstract

Monitoring the breath information from two nostrils can detect breath-related health problems. In this work, we introduce a wearable hot-film/calorimetric breath sensing system composed of a hot-film senor in the center and two calorimetric sensors on two sides. This design has the advantages of low power consumption of 60 mW and good sensitivity to simultaneously measure the mix breath velocity and individual breath airflow signals from the two nostrils. In prototype demonstrations, abnormal breath conditions (apnea, hypopnea, polypnea) and the asymmetric breath conditions between the right and left nostril have been recorded and analyzed for potential usages in the diagnosis of specific breath-related diseases.

Keywords: Breath monitoring; Calorimetric sensor; Hot-film senor; Mobile health.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques*
Wearable Electronic Devices*