The development of wearable sensing technologies is

a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon

dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor

integration with wireless data transmission

Diamond, Dermot

Fay, Cormac

Lau, King-Tong

Radu, Tanja

Waite, Rhys

English

The development of wearable sensing technologies is\ud
a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon\ud
dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor\ud
integration with wireless data transmission

Name not available

    Abstract—The development of wearable sensing technologies is a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor integration with wireless data transmission  Keywords—Proetex, gas sensing, wireless, wearable sensors, carbon dioxide I. INTRODUCTION n recent years, wearable sensing technologies have received much attention [1]-[6]. Several large European Union funded projects (Biotex, Wealthy, MyHeart, and Stella) have been focused on smart textiles, flexible wearable systems and their applications. The Proetex project joins European experts from universities, research institutions, and companies, combining expertise in textile engineering, medicine, wearable bioengineering, electronics, and communications. It is focused on multiple sensor integration issues, dealing with aspects of monitoring, communication and power management. Research team from the CLARITY CSET (www.clarity-centre.com) hosted in National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR) at Dublin City University (DCU) are involved in development of toxic gas chemical sensing technologies and their integration into wearable platforms. Protection of emergency personnel is especially important in the context of fire or rescue operations [7]. Proetex aims to improve safety of emergency-disaster workers by monitoring: i) operator’s health status, ii) hazards in the surrounding  Tanja Radu, Cormac Fay, King Tong Lau and Dermot Diamond are with CLARITY: The Centre for Sensor Web Technologies, National Centre for Sensor Research, School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland (corresponding author : Dermot Diamond: 353-1-700-5404; fax: 353-1-700-8021; e-mail: Dermot.Diamond@ dcu.ie).   Rhys Waite is with Zarlink Semiconductor Ltd, UK, (e-mail: Rhys.Waite@Zarlink.Com). environment, which potentially can have harmful effect to health. Good communication is essential in these situations and is achieved in two ways: i) local communication between personnel within the affected area, ii) long-range communication with personnel outside of the affected area.  Carbon dioxide is commonly present in the atmosphere in concentrations ~400 ppm [8]. Increased concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere occur due to human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels. When present in high concentrations, it poses a risk to human health and may lead to serious physiological effects due to oxygen deprivation which can result in permanent brain damage, coma and even death. It is imperative for the health and operational effectiveness of a fire fighter that he/she is not over-exposed to CO2, and if exposed, the person is allowed to go to a secure space and breathe clean air to detoxify. Critical in this identification of toxification is a reliable method for monitoring CO2 exposure.  This paper reports the fabrication of a CO2 sensing boot that is capable of real time measurement and wireless data transmission to the control system.   II. PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT A. Sensor Selection and Signal Conditioning When adapting sensors as wearable devices for emergency personnel, special attention must be paid to the sensor’s size and its position on body, since it must not obstruct the wearer’s activities.   We have chosen an appropriate sensor based on its sensitivity, robustness and power demand. For the applications and working environments in which these devices will be deployed, potentiometric CO2 sensor (Alphasense Ltd, Essex, UK) [9] was selected as the sensor of choice. These sensors don’t have high power demand and high cost of NDIR sensors. For example, CO2-D1 sensors are currently (May 2009) available at cost of 29 EUR, while NDIR sensors reach price of several hundreds of euro. New generation miniaturized D-series CO2 sensors have diameter of 14.3 mm, and height of 13 mm (4 mm pins and 9 mm for sensor housing). These sensors contain reference and working electrodes, which are placed in an electrolyte that provides a reference CO2 concentration. The measured potential is based on the difference in concentration between the reference electrode and the outside air. The sensor gives an accurate Wearable Sensing Application- Carbon Dioxide Monitoring for Emergency Personnel Using Wearable Sensors Tanja Radu, Cormac Fay, King Tong Lau, Rhys Waite, and Dermot Diamond   I  reading for concentrations ranging from 100 ppm to more than 90% CO2. This provides for accurate detection of both low concentration levels of CO2 (that may be hazardous over long exposure times) and high concentrations that pose immediate danger. The sensors lifetime is up to 12 months.  The CO2 analogue signal conditioning schematic used for building wireless sensing module is shown in Fig. 1. CO2 sensor was attached to the wireless module and placed inside of the specially designed boot pocket (shown at Fig. 2).     Fig. 1. CO2 sensor analogue signal conditioning schematics. W/R represents the working/reference electrodes of the actual sensor   The sensors output ranges from -30mV to +30mV [9]. The 12-bit ADC channel on the wireless module reads from 0 to 2.4 V, giving a single step voltage of 2.4/212 =~ 0.6 mV. Given the small resolution range of the sensor output and allowing for noise, analogue signal conditioning is necessary. The signal is amplified by the configuration in Fig. 1. A voltage output range of (-30 to +30)*G mV results for full scale deflection range compatible with ADC channel of the wireless module. The output of this will obviously result in a negative voltage. To allow for this, one must have a negative power supply and offset (achieved by the potential divider).  B. Power Supply Currently sensors are powered by a nickel metal hydride rechargeable battery (supplied by Varta), connected to the circuit through a 3 pin header. It supplies power for approximately 5 hours. Operating voltage range is from 3V (discharged) to 3.7V (charged).     C. Wireless Transmission Wireless transmission is achieved using a 2,4 GHz Zigbee module with an integrated ceramic antenna- Jennic JN5139-001-M00 802.15.4 RF Module [10]. This short-range communication module has up to 1 km range [10]. Currently, the signal is received by a base station (Jennic JN5139 RF Module sensor board) connected to a PC and monitored using HyperTerminal.   The wireless sensing module shown at Fig. 2 contains the integrated CO2 circuitry, CO2 sensor, battery and the Zigbee module. The module will be placed into specially designed protective casing before being placed inside of the boot pocket. D. Testing Methodology Since CO2 gas is denser than air, it tends to accumulate at lower layers. This is why it was decided to integrate the CO2 sensor into a firefighter’s boots. Special pocket was designed to enclose CO2 sensor along with the wireless sensing module and a battery (see Fig. 2). The pocket has a water proof membrane that protects the sensor from water, but allows gas to pass through. The sensor was attached directly to a wireless sensing module and tested in 2 ways: i) The sensor was attached to a wireless sensing module and enclosed in a small air-tight testing chamber. It was exposed to a range of CO2 concentrations (atmospheric to 42800 ppm), to test its response over the full calibration range for this application. Since the sensor’s signal was wirelessly transmitted to a PC, this also enabled us to test the wireless connection. ii) The sensor was connected to a wireless sensing module, enclosed in a boot pocket; the boot was placed in large testing chamber and a single injection of known volume of pure CO2 was injected. This enabled us to simulate a real-life situation and monitor the sensor’s dynamic response. The sensors response was monitored using the base station’s output in HyperTerminal on a remote PC.    Fig. 2. Firefighter’s boot with built-in pocket used for enclosing the CO2 sensor and wireless sensing module.  Right: sensor attached onto the electronic platform module    III. RESULTS In the small testing chamber, sensors were calibrated in the CO2 range from atmospheric to 42800 ppm. The Fig. 3 shows a typical profile (raw data) obtained wirelessly from a 4-step sensor calibration. Note that sensors’ response is not linear, but logaritmic. The sudden decrease of signal at the end of calibration curve corresponds to chamber being opened and the sensor re-exposed to atmospheric CO2. The output data from the sensor module was compared to those obtained by directly connecting CO2 sensor to a multimeter. The results indicate that the wireless sensing module performed satisfactorily and the sensors responded accurately to CO2.  A series of successful calibrations was performed. Fig. 4 shows two calibration plots obtained from a single sensor. Note that data is shown only using the wireless module.  The results show that the slope is consistent with the manufacturer’s specifications (10 mV per decade of CO2 concentration) and the reproducibility is good in replicate measurements.   Fig. 3. Response profile of a 4-step calibration,  from atmospheric (initial base line) to (1) 9750 ppm, (2) 19500 ppm, (3) 29300 ppm, and (4) 42800 ppm CO2  The sensor module was tested in the boot which was placed inside a large chamber and one single injection of CO2 was introduced, resulting in a concentration of 11400 ppm. Results of three replicates of this experiment for a single sensor are shown in Fig. 5. Note that the slopes decreased when sensor was placed in a boot pocket with a waterproof membrane, due to the concentration gradient and slower diffusion through the membrane. Therefore it is important to keep the same type of membrane in future designs of the boot, as changing the type of membrane may directly affect the sensor’s performance. Overall, the sensors show very good repeatability, as shown in Fig. 5.    Fig. 4. Two calibrations performed using a single sensor with wireless module. Calibration range: atmospheric to 42800 ppm    Fig. 5. Three replicates for a single sensor showing the effect of raising the CO2 concentration from atmospheric to 11400 ppm in a single step - sensor enclosed in a boot pocket  IV. CONCLUSIONS  The results from this research shows a chemical sensor can be successfully integrated into a wearable platform and provide wireless monitoring of a hazardous gas (CO2) in the environment surrounding emergency-disaster workers. Obtaining this information through continuous, real-time monitoring can clearly help in improving these workers safety and efficiency.   V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the European Union (Proetex FP6-2004-IST-4), the Bristol Meyer Squibb, and the Science Foundation Ireland (07/CE/I1147). Also, we thank to Diadora-Invicta Group (Italy) for providing the testing boot.    REFERENCES [1] D. Diamond, "Internet-scale sensing". Analytical chemistry, 2004. 76(15): p. 278A-286A. [2] D. Diamond, K.T. Lau, S. Brady, and J. Cleary, "Integration of analytical measurements and wireless communications-Current issues and future strategies". Talanta, 2008. 75(3): p. 606-612. [3] P. Bonato, "Advances in wearable technology and applications in physical medicine and rehabilitation". Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 2005 2:2. [4] D. Diamond, S. Coyle, S. Scarmagnani, and J. Hayes, "Wireless sensor networks and chemo-/biosensing". Chemical reviews, 2008. 108(2): p. 652-679. [5] S.P. Jayaraman, "Enhancing the quality of life through wearable technology". Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, IEEE, 2003. 22(3): p. 41-48. [6] L.G. Paradiso R. , Taccini N., Wearable System for Vital Signs Monitoring in Studies in health technology and informatics. 2004, IOS Press. p. 253-259. [7] S. Brady, L.E. Dunne, A. Lynch, B. Smyth, and D. Diamond, "Wearable Sensors? What is there to sense?" Studies in health technology and informatics, 2005. 117: p. 80-88. [8] D.S. Robertson, "Health effects of increase in concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere". Current Science, 2006. 90(12): p. 1607-1609. [9] Alphasense Ltd, Solid state-carbon dioxide sensor Doc. Ref. TDS/CO2/ Issue 2  2008; Available from: www.alphasense.com. [10] Jennic Ltd, Product Brief – JN5139-xxx-Myy.  2008; Available from: www.jennic.com.    

Wearable sensing application- carbon dioxide monitoring for emergency personnel using wearable sensors

The development of wearable sensing technologies is
a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon
dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor
integration with wireless data transmission

Irish Universities

The development of wearable sensing technologies is a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor integration with wireless data transmissio

Tanja Radu

Cormac Fay

King Tong Lau

Rhys Waite

Dermot Diamond

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

Wearable Sensing Application- Carbon Dioxide Monitoring for Emergency Personnel Using Wearable Sensors

DCU Online Research Access Service

11/5/20091Wearable Sensing Application- Carbon Dioxide Monitoring for Emergency Personnel Using Wearable Sensors UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Tanja Radu, Cormac Fay, King Tong Lau, Rhys Waite, and Dermot DiamondCLARITY: The Centre for Sensor Web TechnologiesDublin City University, Dublin, IrelandProetex project- Advanced e-textiles for firefighters and civilian victims-Developing textile and fibre based integrated smart wearablesfor emergency disaster intervention personnel with a goal ofimpro ing their safet coordination and efficiencUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE v y, y-EU funded FP6 project-2004-2010-23 European project partnersConsortium partners1 National Institute of Physics of Matter                                                Italy 2 Technical University of Lodz                                                                Poland 3 University of Ghent                                                                               Belgium 4 Smartex s.r.l.                                                                                          Italy 5 Milior s.p.a                                                                                             Italy 6 Sofileta s.p.a.                                                                                         France 7 Thuasne France                                                                                     France 8 University of Pisa                                                                                   Italy 9 D bli Cit U i it I l dUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE  u n y n vers y                                                                           re an  10 Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique                                                  France 11 Centre Suisse de Electronique et de Microtechnique SA                Switzerland 12 Sensor Technology and Devices Ltd.                                                United Kingdom 13 Steiger                                                                                                  Switzerland 14 Philips Research                                                                                  Germany 15 Ciba Specialty Chemicals                                                                   Switzerland 16 Diadora/Invicta Group                                                                          Italy 17 iXscient Ltd.                                                                                         United Kingdom 18 Zarlink Semiconductor                                                                        United Kingdom 19 Brunet-Lion                                                                                          France 20 Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris                                             France 21 INSA-Lyon-CNRS                                                                                 France 22 EUCENTRE – Protezione Civile                                                           Italy 23 Department de la Defense et de la Securite Civile                            FranceAdvanced E-Textile systems can bring together sensors, connections, transmissionsystems, power management. The emergency disaster personnel smart garments willprogressively enhance and integrate such textile systems to enable the following functions:- Continuous monitoring of life signs (biopotentials, breathing movement, cardiac sounds);- Continuous monitoring biosensors (sweat, dehydration, electrolytes, stress indicators);- Pose and activity monitoring;Low power local wireless communications including integrated textile antennae;UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE - ,- Internal temperature monitoring using textile sensors;- External chemical detection, including toxic gases and vapours;- Power generation - photovoltaic and thermoelectric and energy storage;- Longer term e-textile technologies including further sensors, light emission and logic onfibre.  Outer Garment Wearable:External chemicals sensingPosture and activityVisibility enhancementPower generation and storageLow power local communicationsInner Garment Wearable:Life signs monitoringTemperature, internal Biochemicals sensingPosture and activityPower generation and storageLow power local communications Local communicating network.  Each wearables/portable  acts as a node.The PROeTEX UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Portable Communications Units:6 axis INS; GPS;External temperatureAdditional sensorsOn board battery storageLow power local communicationLong range communicationsData input ; Display and audio, alarmsAmbient Environment:CommunicationsPlanningCoordination MonitoringPredictionSituation awarenessLocal CommunicationLong Range          CommunicationCivilian Monitoring Jerkin: (or chest band)Life signs monitoringTemperature, internal Biochemicals sensingPosture and activityPower generation and storageLow power local communicationsConceptCOBase station- Collects info onexternal hazards- WARNING if indangerRemote base stationLong range communicationDCU’s role in PROeTEXCO2COUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Base stationDisaster Management Control• Warnings• Decisions• Information• StrategyCOCO2CO211/5/20092Targeted gasses  Carbon monoxide- CO• Colorless, odorless, tasteless, toxic gas• Produced by the incomplete combustion of the fossil fuelsCarbon dioxide- CO2• Present in atmosphere as a trace gas, in conc.of 350-400 ppm• Colourless, odourless, non-combustible gas• Combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation• High concentrations may occur in closed spacesUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Concentration of CO Inhalation time and toxic in air developed50 ppm Safety level as specified by the Health and Safety Executive200 ppm Slight headache within 2-3 hours400 ppm Frontal headache within 1-2 hours 800 ppm Dizziness, nausea, convulsions within 45 minutes, insensible in 2 hoursConcentration of CO Inhalation time and toxic in air developed10000 ppm                      Drowsiness>20000 ppm                    More frequent, deeper respiration30000 ppm                      Breathing rate doubles50000 ppm                      Serious oxygen deprivation resultingin permanent brain damage, coma and even death.CO2 sensor characteristics• Sensor supplier- Alphasense UK• 3-pin sensors• 14.5 mm diameter, 12.5 mm height (including pins)• CO2 sensor electrodes: reference, workingUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Principle of a Potentiometric Sensor forGases The signal is measured as thepotential difference (voltage) between theworking electrode and the referenceelectrode. The working electrode's potentialdepends on the concentration of the CO2 inthe gas phaseVworking electrodeionic conductor(solid electrolyte)referenceelectrodeSensor integrationCO2 sensorThe less dense CO gas tends to rise and therefore CO sensor was integrated in the jacket collar,close to the breathing heightUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE CO sensorCO2 gas is more dense than air it tends to accumulate in low height, the CO2 sensor has been integrated in to a specially designed boot pocketCO2 wireless sensing modulemini-B USBconnectionUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Module dimensions:5.5x4x1.5 cmCO2 sensor Nickel hydride rechargeable battery2,4 GHz Zigbee module with an integrated ceramic antenna-Jennic JN5139-001-M00 802.15.4 RF ModuleSignal captured using a base station, connected to a PC and monitored using HyperTerminalProtective casingCO2 module protective casing and testing chamberUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE CO2 sensor response1.21.6e (V)CO2 injectionsCO2 concentrations1. atmospheric (initial base line) 2 9750 ppmUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE 00.40.80 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000VoltagTime (s).  , 3. 19500 ppm, 4. 29300 ppm,5. 42800 ppmWirelessly transmitted signal from CO2 sensor calibration (range atmospheric to 42800ppm CO2). Sensor was enclosed in an airtight chamber and CO2 was injected.11/5/20093Problem: CO2 sensor variability2.533.54e (V) 1516It is not possible to find common slope and intercept for all sensors !!UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE 00.511.522 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5Voltagelog(CO2 conc (ppm))1718192122      1-1.5 V response for a single injectionResulting in 42000 ppmatm- 42000 ppm CO2CO2 sensor- using calibration parametersUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE • Using slope and intercept obtained from sensors calibrationit was possible to successfully predict the sensors response in volts for each known concentration of CO2• Prior to using any sensor/wireless module, calibration of the particular sensor will be needed and the obtained slope and intercept will have to be used as input parameters for each module. • Once the sensor needs to be replaced, a new set of parameters characteristic for a new sensor will need to be used.Future activities- Re-programming the modules to account for calibrationfactors-Full integration of CO/CO2 sensors into the garmentUNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE - Wireless transmission: communication of on-body basestation and the remote station- Evaluation of prototypes in laboratory conditions- Evaluation of prototypes in-field conditionsAcknowledgementsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of:- European Union project FP6-2004-IST-4-026987UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN   ? DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   ? TYNDALL NATIONAL INSTITUTE -Science Foundation Ireland (Grant No. 07/CE/I1147)- Project partners-Thank you for your attention!

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Wearable sensing application- carbon dioxide monitoring for emergency personnel using wearable sensors

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Irish Universities

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

DCU Online Research Access Service