Sensor pillow and bed sheet system: Unconstrained monitoring of respiration rate and posture movements during sleep

In this paper, we have developed a low-cost sleep monitoring system for patient based on polysomnography which will be useful for patient communication with healthcare personals and/or relatives. In particular, we have presented the sensor pillow and bed sheet system that employs wireless networks based on low-cost ZigBee technology and a sensor array of force sensitive resistors (FSR) based on polymer thick film (PTF) device, for classifying and specifically verifying the respiration rate during sleep. This paper also proposes a simple motion model that explains the change of head and body pressure distribution. In addition, we can detect some physiological parameters during the sleep stages and wakefulness as well as record respiration rate as related to different physiological factors. The integration of this sensor system and wireless technology with computer software could make this healthcare monitoring system a commercial product valuable for point-of-care applications.