An Active Self-Driven Piezoelectric Sensor Enabling Real-Time Respiration Monitoring.

In this work, we report an active respiration monitoring sensor based on a piezoelectric-transducer-gated thin-film transistor (PTGTFT) aiming to measure respiration-induced dynamic force in real time with high sensitivity and robustness. It differs from passive piezoelectric sensors in that the piezoelectric transducer signal is rectified and amplified by the PTGTFT. Thus, a detailed and easy-to-analyze respiration rhythm waveform can be collected with a sufficient time resolution. The respiration rate, three phases of respiration cycle, as well as phase patterns can be further extracted for prognosis and caution of potential apnea and other respiratory abnormalities, making the PTGTFT a great promise for application in long-term real-time respiration monitoring.