A Novel Portable Real-Time Low-Cost Sleep Apnea Monitoring System based on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Network

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Continuous monitoring of breathing activity plays a vital role in the detection of respiratory-based diseases (SA, COPD, etc.). Sleep Apnea (SA) is characterized by recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep associated with arterial blood desaturation, sympathetic nervous system activation, and cardiovascular impairment. Untreated patients with SA have increased mortality rates compared to the general population. This study aims to design a remote monitoring system for sleep apnea to ensure patient safety and ease the workload of doctors in the Covid-19 era. METHODS: This study aims to design a remote monitoring system for sleep apnea to ensure patient safety and ease the workload of doctors. Our study focuses on a novel portable real-time low-cost sleep apnea monitoring system utilizing the GSM network (GSM Shield Sim900a). Proposed system is a remote monitoring and patient tracking system to detect the apnea event in real time, and to provide information of the sleep position, pulse, and respiratory and oxygen saturation to the medical specialists (SpO(2)) by establishing a direct contact. As soon as an abnormal condition is detected in the light of these parameters, the condition is reported (instant or in the form of short reports after sleep) to the patient relatives, the doctor’s mobile telephone or to the emergency medical centers (EMCs) through a GSM network to handle the case depending on the patient’s emergency condition. RESULTS: A study group was formed of six patients for monitoring apnea events (three males and three females) between the ages of 20 and 60. The patients in the study group have sleep apnea (SA) in different grades. All the apnea events were detected, and all the patients were successfully alerted. Also, the patient parameters were successfully sent to all patient relatives. Patients who could not get out of apnea were called through the CALL feature, and they were informed about their ongoing apnea event and told that intervention was necessary. The proposed system is tested on six patients. The beginning moment of apnea was successfully detected and the SMS/CALL feature was successfully activated without delay. During the testing, it has been observed that while some of the patients start breathing after the first SMS, some others needed the second or the third SMS. According to the measurement result, the maximum breathless time is 46 s among the patients, and a SMS is sent every 15 s. In addition, in cases where the patient was breathless for a long time, the CALL feature was actively sought from the relatives of the patient and enabled him to intervene. The proposed monitoring system could be used in both clinical and home settings. CONCLUSIONS: The monitoring of a patient in real time allows to intervene in any unexpected circumstances about the patient. The proposed work uses an acceleration sensor as a reliable method of the sleep apnea for monitoring and prevention. The developed device is more economical, comfortable, and convenient than existing systems not only for the patients but also for the doctors. The patients can easily use this device in their home environment, so which could yield a more comfortable, easy to use, cost-effective, and long-term breathing monitoring system for healthcare applications. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]