Tracking physiology everywhere it happens
Extending my basic bioimpedance research, I (along with some very talented engineers) designed, created, and validated a wearable physiological sensor capable of measuring heart rate, respiratory rate (and intensity), body temperature, and volume status. From this one device (that’s smaller than a credit card) we were able to measure nearly all the vitals signs a clinician would be interested in.
We started from a basic design, wherein the entire point of the device was to collect the data we needly rapidly and transmit it nearly instanteously to a mobile device for analysis. (Those who are interested in the mobile app and its development are encouraged to consult my labmate TJ’s excellent website for more information.)
Once the basic design was in place, we sought to extend the functionality of the bioimpedance sensor we were using (an AD5933) by creating a reconfigurable frontend that could switch between bipolar and tetrapolar configurations depending on the requirements of the researcher.
We spent a great deal of time and energy on benchtop validations to ensure we were nearly as accurate as a ground truth measurement of impedance from a high-precision LCR meter. It was worth it to us, however, because now we have an inexpensive, wearable medical monitor whose accuracy in human subjects is on par with industry standard equipment.
