Development of beltless respiration and heartbeat sensor based on flexible piezoelectric film

The main goal of this work is to report initial development on a respiration and heartbeat measurement sensor that can be used in continuous monitoring conditions at a minimal impact on the patient. General description of the sensor, consisting of a PVDF film and the bonding layer, is given. Open-circuit voltage generated by the sensor is estimated by analytical and numerical calculations. Analog and digital interface used to extract the bio-data is briefly described. Finally, signal conditioning with digital filters, as well as, measurements of respiration and heart rate at two locations are presented and discussed.