News & Analysis
/
Article

Wearable sensor system tracks lung function for COPD patients

MAR 11, 2022
Device combines a digital stethoscope, electrocardiogram monitor, thermometer, and goniometer into one wearable platform, which aims to predict COPD exacerbations for early intervention.
Ashley Piccone headshot
Press Officer AIP
Wearable sensor system tracks lung function for COPD patients internal name

Wearable sensor system tracks lung function for COPD patients lead image

While chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide, monitoring the condition can be difficult. Lung function is currently assessed with techniques like spirometry, but that requires going to a clinic, training medical personnel to use the machinery, and conducting multiple tests to obtain reliable results.

Monitoring lung function in COPD patients is critical for predicting exacerbations of the disease and for promoting early intervention to prevent complications. To that end, Emokpae et al. developed a wearable acoustic system for breathing analysis that can be easily used in a patient’s home.

The team explored two wearable options: a shirt with internal pockets for the sensors and a chest strap with the sensors attached.

The multimodal device contains an acoustic sensor, or digital stethoscope, as the main component, and the system hosts an electrocardiogram monitor, thermometer, and goniometer. The goniometer, or activity sensor, tracks motion and posture to explore which body geometry produces the best lung function.

“What’s also unique about our approach is that our sensors can be networked,” said author Lloyd Emokpae. “You can have multiple of them placed around the thorax.”

The researchers quantified breathing intensity with the signal-to-noise ratio of the acoustic spectrum. The signal-to-noise correlates with a health-scale score based on questions about the patient.

“The end goal is to be able to not only get the output from our sensors but to be able to correlate that to the gold standard spirometry output,” said Emokpae.

The authors plan to conduct trials with more patients over longer time periods, with the goal of eventually predicting exacerbations of COPD.

Source: “A wearable multi-modal acoustic system for breathing analysis,” by Lloyd E. Emokpae, Roland N. Emokpae, Jr., Ese Bowry, Jaeed Bin Saif, Muntasir Mahmud, Wassila Lalouani, Mohamed Younis, and Robert L. Joyner, Jr., Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (2022). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0009487 .

Related Topics
More Science
/
Article
Minimizing crosstalk between imaging regions leverages the sensitivity and spectral range of single-photon imaging with the speed of parallel processing to produce high-fidelity images quickly.
/
Article
Advancements in polymer science are transforming the retinal disease treatment landscape, addressing clinical challenges such as treatment invasiveness, patient adherence, and drug clearance.
AAS
/
Article
Images from a unique new space observatory are in, showcasing its potential for exploring the universe near and far.
AAS
/
Article
The troubles continue for planets around the smallest and coolest stars: new research suggests that it’s even harder than previously suspected for these planets to hold on to their atmospheres.