Estimation of respiratory rates based on photoplethysmographic measurements at the sternum.

The respiratory rate (RR) is a clinically important vital sign and is a frequently used parameter in the general hospital wards. In current clinical practice, the monitoring of the RR is by manual count of the chest movement for one minute. This paper addresses a new approach where the respiratory rate is extracted using photoplethysmography (PPG) on the chest bone (sternum). Sternal PPG signals were acquired from 10 healthy subjects resting in a supine position. As reference signals, finger PPG, electrocardiogram (ECG), and capnography were simultaneously recorded during spontaneous and paced breathing. The sternal PPG signals were then compared with the reference signals in terms of Bland-Altman analysis, the power spectrum analysis and the magnitude squared coherence. The Bland-Altman analysis showed an average bias of 0.21 breaths/min between RR extracted from sternal PPG and capnography. The respiratory power content at the sternum was 78.8 (38) % in terms of the median and (the interquartile range). The cardiac content was 19 (18.4) % within the cardiac region. The results from the magnitude squared coherence analysis was 0.97 (0.09) in the respiratory region (6 to 27 breaths/min) and 0.98 (0.01) in the cardiac pulse region (30-120 beats/min). This preliminary study demonstrates the possibility of monitoring the RR from sternal PPG on a healthy group of subjects during rest.

An Electronic Patch for wearable health monitoring by reflectance pulse oximetry.

We report the development of an Electronic Patch for wearable health monitoring. The Electronic Patch is a new health monitoring system incorporating biomedical sensors, microelectronics, radio frequency (RF) communication, and a battery embedded in a 3-dimensional hydrocolloid polymer. In this paper the Electronic Patch is demonstrated with a new optical biomedical sensor for reflectance pulse oximetry so that the Electronic Patch in this case can measure the pulse and the oxygen saturation. The reflectance pulse oximetry solution is based on a recently developed annular backside silicon photodiode to enable low power consumption by the light emitting components. The Electronic Patch has a disposable part of soft adhesive hydrocolloid polymer and a reusable part of hard polylaurinlactam. The disposable part contains the battery. The reusable part contains the reflectance pulse oximetry sensor and microelectronics. The reusable part is 'clicked' into the disposable part when the patch is prepared for use. The patch has a size of 88 mm by 60 mm and a thickness of 5 mm.

Independent component analysis applied to pulse oximetry in the estimation of the arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2)--a comparative study.

We examine various independent component analysis (ICA) digital signal processing algorithms for estimating the arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) as measured by a reflective pulse oximeter. The ICA algorithms examined are FastICA, Maximum Likelihood ICA (ICAML), Molgedey and Schuster ICA (ICAMS), and Mean Field ICA (ICAMF). The signal processing includes pre-processing bandpass filtering to eliminate noise, and post-processing by calculating the SpO2. The algorithms are compared to the commercial state-of-the-art algorithm Discrete Saturation Transform (DST) by Masimo Corporation. It is demonstrated that ICAMS and ICAMF perform up to 13% better than DST. PPG recordings are done with a reflective pulse oximetry sensor integrated in an Electronic Patch. This system is intended for patients with chronic heart and lung conditions.

A novel photodiode for reflectance pulse oximetry in low-power applications.

The amount of light collected is crucial for low-power applications of pulse oximetry. In this work a novel ring-shaped backside photodiode has been developed for a wearable reflectance pulse oximeter. The photodiode is proven to work with a dual LED with wavelengths of 660 nm and 940 nm. For the purpose of continuously monitoring vital signs of a human, a temperature sensor is integrated onto the chip containing the photodiode. This biomedical multisensor chip is made for integration into "the Electronic Patch", an autonomous monitoring system for humans.