A portable multi-channel wireless NIRS device for muscle activity real-time monitoring

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a relative new technology in monitoring muscle oxygenation and hemo-dynamics. This paper presents a portable multi-channel wireless NIRS device for real-time monitoring of muscle activity. The NIRS sensor is designed miniaturized and modularized, to make multi-site monitoring convenient. Wireless communication is applied to data transmission avoiding of cumbersome wires and the whole system is highly integrated. Special care is taken to eliminate motion artifact when designing the NIRS sensor and attaching it to human skin. Besides, the system is designed with high sampling rate so as to monitor rapid oxygenation changes during muscle activities. Dark noise and long-term drift tests have been carried out, and the result indicates the device has a good performance of accuracy and stability. In vivo experiments including arterial occlusion and isometric voluntary forearm muscle contraction were performed, demonstrating the system has the ability to monitor muscle oxygenation parameters effectively even in exercise.