Unconstrained noninvasive vital signs monitoring for detection of obstructive sleep apnea with automated prevention

The Bioengineering Laboratory at UNH has demonstrated the usefulness of medical device interoperability through previous work that involved connecting an advanced hospital bed with blood pressure monitors over an electrical communication bus known as Controller Area Network (CAN). The medical devices utilize the software communication protocol known as CANopen for communicating relevant patient data to one another. This thesis explores the opportunity to detect a person\u27s heartbeat and respiration while lying in a hospital bed noninvasively and unconstrained for accurately identifying an episode of obstructive sleep apnea. The design and development of this device is a CANopen compatible therapeutic automatic bed adjustment to counteract a sleep apnea episode by restoring a person to normal respiratory sleep