Abstract
This paper presents an unconstrained sensing technique for the detection of the respiration and heartbeats during sleep using a piezopolymer PVDF film sensor with the aim that the sensor can be used on the ordinary bed together with the condition that the use of the sensor does not interfere the daily sleep of the patient under detection. A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film is used as the sensory material in the sensor system. The film is placed under the sheet at the location of the thorax to pick up the fluctuation of the pressure on the bed caused by the respiratory movement and heartbeats. Fundamental principle and the functional verification of the sensor system are described in details in the paper. It is shown that the respiration and heartbeats can simultaneously be detected by the sensor with the use of the wavelet decomposition analysis.
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