Two-Channel Epidermal RFID Sensor for the Wireless Bilateral Analysis of Nasal Respiration

Abstract

Abnormal breathing can be a symptom of an unhealthy status. Conventional diagnostic exams involve cumbersome and intrusive instrumentation, such as nasal cannulas, that is, uncomfortable for the user and that, most of the times, do not consider the breathing asymmetries between the two nostrils. This article describes a two-channel flexible epidermal sensor for the wireless and less-invasive bilateral monitoring of nasal breathing based on temperature measurement. The device is suitable to adhere to the prolabium and comprises two coupled T-match antennas whose Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Integrated Circuits (ICs) are placed at the entrance of the nostrils. They are provided with embedded temperature sensors so that they implement both sensing and transmission of the data. A measurement campaign is carried out to provide a quantitative characterization of the dual-channel device as a breath sensor by comparison with a conventional flow meter. The two nostrils can be independently monitored due to a negligible cross-sensitivity of the two ICs’ temperature data. Moreover, temperature-based measurements proved capable to reproduce typical clinical breathing features, with less than 12% uncertainty with respect to flow waveforms.