Real-Time System for Continuous and Remote Monitoring of Respiration during Sleep Using Wireless Sensors Networks

Sleep represents a dynamic physiological process having an important role in the restoration of the central nervous system. Nowadays, because a significant part of the population suffers of sleep disorders, the dynamic long time continuous monitoring of human respiration has an important role in diagnosis and treatment. This paper proposes a flexible, scalable and cost-effective integrated system for respiration frequency monitoring during sleep. The described system may be used to monitor especially patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea episodes, within healthcare institutes or their homes, with a degree of accuracy similar to the most expansive commercial systems. Usually the long time continuous monitoring requires the use of sensors attached by wires to the medical devices, but they are very uncomfortable for patient during sleep. As an alternative, the patient’s respiration frequency is continuously measured by using wireless sensor nodes and then transferred to a central monitoring station via a wireless sensor network. The sensor nodes use devices based on the impedance pneumography technique to measure the patient respiration frequency connected to wireless modules. On the central monitoring station a software application receives the patient’s respiration frequency from wireless sensors network, displays it on its graphical user interface and activates the alerts in interface when obstructive sleep apnea episodes are detected. A prototype of the described system has been developed, implemented and tested.