A Soft and Skin-Interfaced Smart Patch Based on Fiber Optics for Cardiorespiratory Monitoring

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Cardiorespiratory Monitoring

Background:

• Wearable devices are crucial for monitoring physiological parameters, with significant implications for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
• Current wearables face challenges in simultaneous heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) monitoring, skin compliance, and sensitivity.
• Addressing these limitations is key to advancing remote and home-based health monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel soft biosensor for simultaneous HR and RR monitoring.
• To overcome technical limitations of current wearable sensors for cardiorespiratory assessment.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of real-time cardiorespiratory monitoring in diverse home environments.

Main Methods:

• Development of a skin-interfaced, fiber-optic-based soft biosensor (smart patch).
• Detection of local ribcage strain caused by cardiac and respiratory mechanics.
• Validation of HR and RR estimation under various respiratory conditions and body positions.

Main Results:

• The smart patch accurately estimates HR and RR simultaneously using a single sensing modality.
• The biosensor demonstrates high fidelity in tracking cardiorespiratory parameters.
• Performance remains consistent across different breathing patterns and common daily postures.

Conclusions:

• The developed smart patch is a promising wearable solution for simultaneous HR and RR monitoring.
• This technology addresses key challenges hindering widespread wearable adoption in cardiorespiratory health.
• The system holds significant potential for real-time, non-invasive cardiorespiratory monitoring in home healthcare settings.