Implementation of a Microcontroller Arduino for Portable Peak Expiratory Flow Rate to Examine the Lung Health

Abstract

A peak flow meter will measure the ability to push air out of the lungs; the lungs are one of the body's most vital organs. The commonly used method is to deploy a peak flow meter, which uses mechanical systems. This mechanical system is prone to a high error rate of reading, and as a result, a more accurate and reliable means becomes inevitable. This paper describes the design and implementation of a micro-controller-based portable peak flow meter, which can be used to provide accurate data for the diagnosis of asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. In the heart of the system are the programmable Mega Arduino microcontroller and a device called MPX5100GP sensor, which has a pressure range of 0-100 Kpa to detect a patient breath. The device was equipped with a display facility, which uses Nextion touch TFT output to display related tests and examinations. There is also a provision to store the results data using SD Card, while a printer prints the test results for further diagnostic purposes. An experimental setup in the laboratory shows that the designed micro-controller-based PFM shows that the error rate was between 0.50 % and 4.21 % compared with the mechanical-based peak flow meter. The application of micro-controller-based peak flow meters also allows real-time and remote monitoring of peak flow parameters. The evolution of modern technology has made the possibility of developing a micro-controller based portable, peak flow meters, which can be used to measure the data involved in the diagnosis of lung-related diseases more accurately.

Portable spirometer using pressure-volume method with Bluetooth integration to Android smartphone

“…The maximum pressure value that the sensor can read is 99.61 kPa. The maximum pressure value obtained in the test shows that the sensor worked well under the characteristics of the MPX5100DP sensor that has a maximum pressure value of 100 kPa as in [21], [22]. There are, however, other MEMS piezoelectric absolute pressure sensors that can also be used for Spirometers, such as the STMicro LPS22HH, LPS22HB, and the Bosch BMP388, with the LPS22HH showing the best performance [23].…”

“…The average FVC accuracy from both measurements was 97.11%, while the average FEV1 accuracy was 97.07%. The performance of this proposed system is as good as [19], [21], [22] Table 4, which uses an absolute pressure sensor to measure the lung volume using pressure-volume method with a wireless communication advantage. However, Grunfeld [23] suggests potentially using a lower-price sensor, LPS22HH or LPS22HB, to reduce the spirometer cost.…”

“…Meanwhile, a device has been developed to measure the other respiratory values, such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) [19], and level of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, acetone and alcohol in patients' exhaled breath [20]. Other studies have implemented the spirometer to detect asthma symptoms and COPDs providing effective treatment for the patients [21]- [23]. Other studies used a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for implementing a spirometry-on-chip device [24], [25].…”

“…Other studies used a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for implementing a spirometry-on-chip device [24], [25]. Those spirometers used various sensor types, such as a MEMS anemometer in [14], [15], [24]- [26], and a pressure sensor in [19], [21]- [23], [27]. Furthermore, the widespread usage of smartphones as personal devices attracted several spirometer studies' attention.…”

“…This study aims to develop an embedded spirometer using a microcontroller and a pressure sensor to measure exhaled air flow rate with high precision and accuracy, inspired by [19], [21]- [23], [27]. A mouthpiece for exhalation was designed, and the venturi effect equation from the differential air pressure of tube sections was applied to calculate air flow rate and lung volume, namely FEV1 and FVC.…”