Abstract
The paper concerns a detector for biomedical screening of sleep apnea which may yield severe reduction of life expectation. The detector is mounted on the thorax including several sensors for respiratory and cardiac activities. An additional magneto-elastic sensor, which is described in this paper, should register both the body position and body movements, both being relevant for diagnostics.
The sensor is based on a magneto-elastic bilayer of high bending sensitivity operated in acceleration mode. The sensor is being optimized with respect to material matching, loading (mass optimization) and length, as well as (limited) excursion, resonance frequency and thermal behavior.
Application is reported for lab tests on short time events of three kinds: (a) body positions, with focus on back position which favors positive findings, (b) body movements, ranging from arm/leg movements up to upper body rolls, and (c) physiological activities such as respiration, indicating additional potentials of the sensor.
The magnetic concept promises a component which is compact, robust, free of wear and cheap. It will be used in combination with sensors for respiration effort and cardiac activity, aiming for a robust single-spot home monitoring device for the assessment of sleep apnea syndrome.
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