Wearable SpO2 and sleep posture monitoring system for Obstructive Sleep Apnea patients

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) affects 20% of adults in the world and is caused by a collapse of the soft tissue surrounding the upper airway, obstructing airflow. The vast majority of mild and moderate OSA patients are positional patients, which means that these patients show most of their breathing abnormalities while sleeping in supine position. For these patients positional therapy may be a simple and effective treatment solution. In this study we present a training system for positional patients to alert them when a SpO₂ desaturation is occurring, or when they spend a long period of time sleeping in supine position. The alert is given to the patient initially as a smooth vibration in their wrist band, but if the condition persists, a buzzer is used for auditory indication. The system uses an accelerometer on the chest or abdomen to determine the sleeping posture and a commercial finger clip pulse oximeter to monitor heart rate and SpO₂.