A multiplexed electronic architecture for opto-electronic patch sensor to effectively monitor heart rate and oxygen saturation

To effectively capture human vital signs, a multi-wavelength optoelectronic patch sensor (MOEPS), together with a schematic architecture of electronics, was developed to overcome the drawbacks of present photoplethysmographic (PPG) sensors. To obtain a better performance of in vivo physiological measurement, the optimal illuminations, i.e., light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the MOEPS, whose wavelength is automatically adjusted to each specific subject, were selected to capture better PPG signals. A multiplexed electronic architecture has been well established to properly drive the MOEPS and effectively capture pulsatile waveforms at rest. The protocol was designed to investigate its performance with the participation of 11 healthy subjects aged between 18 and 30. The signals obtained from green (525nm) and orange (595nm) illuminations were used to extract heart rate (HR) and oxygen saturation (SpO2%). These results were compared with data, simultaneously acquired, from a commercial ECG and a pulse oximeter. Considering the difficulty for current devices to attain the SpO2%, a new computing method, to obtain the value of SpO2%, is proposed depended on the green and orange wavelength illuminations. The values of SpO2% between the MOEPS and the commercial Pulse Oximeter devics showed that the results were in good agreement. The values of HR showed close correlation between commercial devices and the MOEPS (HR: r1=0.994(Green); r2=0.992(Orange); r3=0.975(Red); r4=0.990(IR))

A multi-wavelength opto-electronic patch sensor to effectively detect physiological changes against human skin types

Different skin pigments among various ethnic group people have an impact on spectrometric illumination on skin surface. To effectively capture photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals, a multi-wavelength opto-electronic patch sensor (OEPS) together with a schematic architecture of electronics were developed to overcome the drawback of present PPG sensor. To perform a better in vivo physiological measurement against skin pigments, optimal illuminations in OEPS, whose wavelength is compatible with a specific skin type, were optimized to capture a reliable physiological sign of heart rate (HR). A protocol was designed to investigate an impact of five skin types in compliance with Von Luschan’s chromatic scale. Thirty-three healthy male subjects between the ages of 18 and 41 were involved in the protocol implemented by means of the OEPS system. The results show that there is no significant difference (p: 0.09, F = 3.0) in five group tests with the skin types across various activities throughout a series of consistent measurements. The outcome of the present study demonstrates that the OEPS, with its multi-wavelength illumination characteristics, could open a path in multiple applications of different ethnic groups with cost-effective health monitoring

An improved transmitter system to accurately measure wet-bulb temperature of air

A cost-effective measurement of wet-bulb temperature of air has great benefits to fulfill a growing demand of industry, cultivation agriculture, and medication. Applying an appropriate algorithm to wet-bulb temperature of air measurement can effectively improve the accuracy and speed of its measurement. The study aims to research how an improved transmitter system along with the latent heat–based iteration algorithm is used to precisely measure wet-bulb temperature of air. The work consists of (1) simulation of the iteration algorithm and (2) validation via experimental protocol. The simulation results through latent heat–based iteration algorithm were in good agreement (R2 5 0.99) with the reference. The performance of the improved wet-bulb temperature of air transmitter system was tested by a latent heat–based iteration algorithm experimental setup. The experimental results demonstrate that the improved wet-bulb temperature of air in a good consistency with commercial wet-bulb temperature of air in a range of temperature (15C–34C) and relative humidity (28.8%–76.2%). The Bland–Altman plot also shows that the mean value and the standard deviation of the differences between these two systems are 0.14C and 0.29C, respectively, which indicates that the improved wet-bulb temperature of air has a good agreement as well. Compared with the commercial wet-bulb temperature of air transmitter system, an advanced processor (STM32F103C8T6) and real-time operating system was applied in the improved wetbulb temperature of air transmitter system. The experimental results show that its measurement accuracy is closer to the previous study. This study provides an alternative and cost-effective solution to accurately and real-time measure wet-bulb temperature of ai

Oxygen saturation measurements from green and orange illuminations of multi-wavelength optoelectronic patch sensors

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Photoplethysmography (PPG) based pulse oximetry devices normally use red and infrared illuminations to obtain oxygen saturation (SpO2) readings. In addition, the presence of motion artefacts severely restricts the utility of pulse oximetry physiological measurements. In the current study, a combination of green and orange illuminations from a multi-wavelength optoelectronic patch sensor (mOEPS) was investigated in order to improve robustness to subjects’ movements in the extraction of SpO2 measurement. The experimental protocol with 31 healthy subjects was divided into two sub-protocols, and was designed to determine SpO2 measurement. The datasets for the first sub-protocol were collected from 15 subjects at rest, with the subjects free to move their hands. The datasets for the second sub-protocol with 16 subjects were collected during cycling and walking exercises. The results showed good agreement with SpO2 measurements (r = 0.98) in both sub-protocols. The outcomes promise a robust and cost-effective approach of physiological monitoring with the prospect of providing health monitoring that does not restrict user physical movements

Research on Key Parameters Operation Range of Central Air Conditioning Based on Binary K-Means and Apriori Algorithm

As the energy-saving control of central air conditioning has been widely applied in modern architecture, research of real-time optimal control based on historical data and identification of its optimal control strategies are of great importance for reducing energy wasting of buildings. However, due to the property of easily falling into local optimum, conventional k-means approach cannot achieve the goal of real-time optimal control, we therefore propose an innovative binary k-means clustering algorithm which is used to adjust the target value of temperature difference (TD) in the control system of chilled water and cooling water of central air conditioning system (CACS). Thanks to the clustering control, among the 304 test data, the coefficient of performance (COP) of 211 sets of data, which accounted for 69.41%, are higher than those of the traditional control method. In the simulation system, the COP of 191 sets of data, which accounted for 62.83%, are higher than those of traditional control methods, achieving better energy efficiency. To achieve the goal of identify potential energy-saving control strategies, the Apriori algorithm is proposed to correlate the key parameters and energy consumption efficiency of the CACS. The results show when the chilled water temperature difference (CWTD) > 2.0 °C and the cooling water temperature difference (COWTD) > 2.4 °C, some rules are discovered as follows: 1. The probability of a larger system COP will increase if the CWTD is set lower than the third quartile value or the COWTD is set lower than the first quartile value. 2. The probability of a larger system COP will also increase if the CTWD is set lower than the first quartile and the COWTD is set between the first and the third quartile. These underlying regularity is useful for technicians to adjust the control parameters of the equipment, to improve energy efficiency and to reduce energy consumption

Combined Pitch and Trailing Edge Flap Control for Load Mitigation of Wind Turbines

Using active control methods for load mitigation in wind turbines could greatly reduce the cost of per kilowatt hour of wind power. In this work, the combined pitch and trailing edge flap control (CPFC) for load mitigation of wind turbines is investigated. The CPFC includes an individual pitch control (IPC) loop and a trailing edge flap control (TEFC) loop, which are combined by a load frequency division control algorithm. The IPC loop is mainly used to mitigate the low frequency loads, and the TEFC loop is mainly used to mitigate the high frequency loads. The CPFC adopts both an azimuth angle feed-forward and a loads feedback control strategy. The azimuth angle feed-forward control strategy should mitigate the asymmetrical loads caused by observable disturbances. and the loads feedback control strategy should decrease asymmetrical loads by closed loop control. A simulation is carried out on the joint platform of FAST and MATLAB. The simulation results show that the damage equivalent load (DEL) of blade root out-of-plane bending moment is reduced by 53.7% while using CPFC, compared to collective pitch control (CPC); and the standard deviation of blade tip out-of-plane deflection is reduced by 50.2% while using CPFC, compared to CPC. The results demonstrate that the CPFC can mitigate the fatigue loads of wind turbines as anticipated

A Vibration Control Method Using MRASSA for 1/4 Semi-Active Suspension Systems

The multi-subpopulation refracted adaptive salp swarm algorithm (MRASSA) was proposed for vibration control in 1/4 semi-active suspension systems. The MRASSA algorithm was applied to optimize suspension damping performance by addressing the local optimal and slow convergence speed challenge of the standard salp swarm algorithm for two-degrees-of-freedom 1/4 semi-active suspension systems. The developed MRASSA contains three key improvements: (1) partitioning multi-subpopulation; (2) applying refracted opposition-based learning; (3) adopting adaptive factors. In order to verify the performance of the MRASSA approach, a 1/4 suspension Simulink model was developed for simulation experiments. To further validate the results, a physical platform was built to test the applicability of the simulation model. The optimized suspension performance of MRASSA was also compared with three optimized models, namely, standard SSA, Single-Objective Firefly (SOFA) and Whale-optimized Fuzzy-fractional Order (WOAFFO). The experimental results showed that MRASSA outperformed the other models, achieving better suspension performance in complex environments such as a random road with a speed of 60 km/h. Compared to passive suspension, MRASSA led to a 41.15% reduction in sprung mass acceleration and a 15–25% reduction compared to other models. Additionally, MRASSA had a maximum 20% reduction in suspension dynamic deflection and dynamic load. MRASSA also demonstrated a faster convergence speed, finding the optimal solution faster than the other algorithms. These results indicate that MRASSA is superior to other models and has potential as a valuable tool for suspension performance optimization

A Multi-Wavelength Opto-Electronic Patch Sensor to Effectively Detect Physiological Changes against Human Skin Types

Different skin pigments among various ethnic group people have an impact on spectrometric illumination on skin surface. To effectively capture photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals, a multi-wavelength opto-electronic patch sensor (OEPS) together with a schematic architecture of electronics were developed to overcome the drawback of present PPG sensor. To perform a better in vivo physiological measurement against skin pigments, optimal illuminations in OEPS, whose wavelength is compatible with a specific skin type, were optimized to capture a reliable physiological sign of heart rate (HR). A protocol was designed to investigate an impact of five skin types in compliance with Von Luschan’s chromatic scale. Thirty-three healthy male subjects between the ages of 18 and 41 were involved in the protocol implemented by means of the OEPS system. The results show that there is no significant difference (p: 0.09, F = 3.0) in five group tests with the skin types across various activities throughout a series of consistent measurements. The outcome of the present study demonstrates that the OEPS, with its multi-wavelength illumination characteristics, could open a path in multiple applications of different ethnic groups with cost-effective health monitoring