Non-wearable respiration monitoring based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer

Abstract

A novel non-wearable respiration monitoring smart mat structure embedded with optical fiber sensor is proposed and experimentally investigated, which can effectively detect the breathing rate (BR) of human subjects in sleeping position. The sensing principle is mainly based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), and the fibers used are all common single mode fibers (SMFs) with 900-micron buffer jacket avoiding fragility in practical use. The monitoring system has the advantages of non-invasion, non-fragility, simple structure, high sensitivity, low cost, and anti-electromagnetic interference.