In-House monitoring and measurement of respiration rateusing Disposable Paper Sensor

Abstract

This present work provides an easily disposable paper-based interdigitated sensor embedded inside the mask for the detection of respiration rate continuously without direct contact with the human body. In present COVID scenario, everyone needs to wear mask for preventing the unwanted spreading of the said virus. But in tropical countries like India, People always complain about a suffocating situation while wearing mask. In order to address this, we have designed a non-invasive paper sensor that can be placed inside the mask (beneath nostril) for measuring breathing rate regularly to find out a cost-effective device capable of monitoring breathing rate. In general, we prefer use and throw type mask, thus the proposed paper-based sensor gives a cost-effective solution compared to the Current appliances of breathing sensing as most of them are burdensome, bulky, inconvenient as well as exorbitant than a paper-based respiration sensor. Essentially, these current approaches undergo through a practical limitation of frequency and time span i.e. static measurement. It is known that the humidity level of a paper changes according to the moisture content. Thus, it can easily detect the inhalation and exhalation through this changing. Moreover, variation of moisture level that happens due to breathing cycle changes the ionic conductivity of the sensor. The interdigitated design is the most suited for achieving higher sensitivity and easy to fabricate. First, we have designed it in Finite Element Method (FEM) based platform and finally this design is implemented with graphite-based electrodes on cellulose paper. Microcontroller based electronic circuitry is used in order to monitor and record the real-time respiration rate. It has been observed that the breathing rate as well as pattern gives a significant variation along with physical conditions and obstructive pulmonary diseases.