The Design of Oximeter in Sleep Monitoring

One-third of the lifetime is spent asleep, and the quality of sleep significantly affects health and the quality of life. Many people are unaware that they snore during sleep, and also consider that snoring occurs when the body is too tired, whereas it is actually is an indicator of good health. There is accumulating evidence that snoring is indicative of sleep apnea syndrome, which can decrease blood oxygenation and induce hypertension, right ventricle failure, angina pectoris, and even sudden death. Given the importance of snoring and its relation to blood oxygenation, we built a small oximeter with low power consumption and based on optical penetration, with the acquired physiological data being transferred to a personal computer via a serial interface. In this system the computer measures physiological data of blood oxygen, heart rate, and heart rate variability using Poincaré plots. The stability of the oximeter results was determined using a standard biosignal simulator, with three subjects being monitored: those prone to snoring. This system is noninvasive, makes continuous measurements, and is highly portable, which make it a good choice for monitoring sleep in the home environment.