A Novel Device for Simultaneous Measurement of Nostril Air Flow Pressure and Temperature using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor

Abstract

This paper presents the design, development, calibration and demonstration of non-invasive, Nostril Pressure and Temperature Measurement Device (NPTD) employing Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors for the simultaneous, accurate and real-time measurement of nostril air flow pressure and temperature which can aid in clinical diagnosis of nasal dysfunction and associated nose disorders. The unique design of NPTD enables the comfortable measurement of randomly varying air flow pressure and temperature of both the nostrils simultaneously. To calibrate the pressure and temperature readouts of NPTD, suitable and in-house calibration techniques have been devised and adopted. The NPTD developed can provide certain critical features such as breathing pattern, rate of respiratory, individual nostril temperature/pressure, nostrils dominance pattern, body core temperature etc., which can aid clinicians in early diagnosis of breathing problems associated with heart, brain and lung malfunctioning. The developed NPTD is simple in design, practically implementable robust, EMI proof and non-electric, which are obligatory features for any clinical diagnostic tool used in a hospital environment.