Jin Jiayi, Sánchez-Sinencio Edgar
IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst. 2015 Feb;9(1):96-104. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2014.2314301. Epub 2014 Jun 3.
Current solutions of sleep apnea diagnosis require the patient to undergo overnight studies at a specialized sleep laboratory. Due to such inconvenience and high cost, millions of sleep apnea patients remain undiagnosed and thus untreated. Based on a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor and an effective apnea detection algorithm, we propose a low-cost single-channel apnea screening solution applicable in the comfort of patients' homes. A prototype device was designed and assembled including a MEMS sensor for measuring the patient's nasal air flows, and a time-domain signal processing IC for apnea detection and autonomous scoring. The IC chip was fabricated in standard 0.5- μm CMOS technology. The proposed device was tested for both respiratory rhythm detection and sleep apnea screening under clinical environment. Apnea-hypopnea indices (AHI) were scored to indicate severity of sleep apnea conditions. Test results suggest that the proposed device can be a valuable screening solution for the broader public with undiagnosed apnea conditions.
目前的睡眠呼吸暂停诊断方法要求患者在专门的睡眠实验室进行整夜研究。由于这种不便和高成本，数百万睡眠呼吸暂停患者仍未得到诊断，因此也未得到治疗。基于微机电系统（MEMS）传感器和有效的呼吸暂停检测算法，我们提出了一种低成本的单通道呼吸暂停筛查解决方案，适用于患者在家中舒适使用。设计并组装了一个原型设备，包括一个用于测量患者鼻腔气流的MEMS传感器，以及一个用于呼吸暂停检测和自主评分的时域信号处理集成电路。该集成电路芯片采用标准的0.5微米CMOS技术制造。在临床环境下对所提出的设备进行了呼吸节律检测和睡眠呼吸暂停筛查测试。对呼吸暂停低通气指数（AHI）进行评分，以表明睡眠呼吸暂停状况的严重程度。测试结果表明，所提出的设备对于更广泛的未诊断呼吸暂停状况的公众来说可能是一种有价值的筛查解决方案。
