A Portable Wireless Communication Platform Based on a Multi-Material Fiber Sensor for Real-Time Breath Detection

Area of Science:

• Wearable technology
• Biomedical engineering
• Wireless communication

Background:

• Accurate and comfortable respiratory monitoring is crucial for healthcare.
• Existing methods can be invasive or limit patient mobility.
• Need for non-contact, real-time breathing assessment solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel mobile wireless platform for real-time breathing rate monitoring.
• To create a comfortable, wearable sensor integrated into a T-shirt.
• To validate the system's accuracy in detecting diverse breathing patterns.

Main Methods:

• A wearable T-shirt equipped with a spiral-shaped antenna sensor and Bluetooth transmitter.
• Sensing mechanism based on the strain-sensitive signal amplitude transmitted wirelessly.
• Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) data filtered and analyzed using custom algorithms.
• Validation through numerical simulations and testing on four male volunteers.

Main Results:

• The wireless sensor accurately detected breathing rates from 10 to 72 breaths per minute (0.16–1.2 Hz).
• Successfully recorded slow, fast, regular, irregular, and shallow breathing patterns.
• Experimental results showed good agreement with numerical simulations of human breath.

Conclusions:

• The developed mobile wireless platform offers a promising non-invasive solution for breathing monitoring.
• The wearable T-shirt design ensures user comfort and practicality.
• This technology has potential applications in remote patient monitoring and health diagnostics.