Non-invasive smart health monitoring system based on optical fiber interferometers

Abstract

Vital signs (including breath and heartbeat) monitoring is a key tool in healthcare. Current monitors need invasive electronic sensors attached to user's body, which is inconvenient and uncomfortable. We demonstrate photonic smart health monitoring system based on phase-sensitive optical fiber interferometers. Users simply lie/sleep on a sensor mat embedded with optical fiber interferometers. Breath and heartbeat will introduce slight strain changes on the mat and affect the light propagating within the fiber. Breathing and heartbeat waveforms can be achieved by analyzing the output light with signal processing. The system can collect user's signals continuously and remotely to provide big data for health analysis. Our technique is non-invasive, highly sensitive, and immune to electromagnetic interference.