Simultaneous measurement of breathing rate and heart rate using a microbend multimode fiber optic sensor

• Published in: Journal of biomedical optics Vol. 19; no. 5; p. 057001
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhihao, Lau, Doreen, Teo, Ju Teng, Ng, Soon Huat, Yang, Xiufeng, Kei, Pin Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers 01.05.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Algorithms; Ballistocardiography; Breathing; Devices; Female; Fiber Optic Technology - methods; Fiber optics; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Optical fibers; Respiratory Rate - physiology; Sensors; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Transceivers; breathing rate; heart rate; nonintrusive monitoring; microbend fiber optic sensor; body movement; ballistocardiogram
• ISSN: 1083-3668; 1560-2281; 1560-2281
• DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.19.5.057001

We propose and demonstrate the feasibility of using a highly sensitive microbend multimode fiber optic sensor for simultaneous measurement of breathing rate (BR) and heart rate (HR). The sensing system consists of a transceiver, microbend multimode fiber, and a computer. The transceiver is comprised of an optical transmitter, an optical receiver, and circuits for data communication with the computer via Bluetooth. Comparative experiments conducted between the sensor and predicate commercial physiologic devices showed an accuracy of ±2  bpm for both BR and HR measurement. Our preliminary study of simultaneous measurement of BR and HR in a clinical trial conducted on 11 healthy subjects during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also showed very good agreement with measurements obtained from conventional MR-compatible devices.