Air pollution is an invisible killer that lurks around us, affecting both young and old. In fact, it is responsible every year for 7 million premature deaths, as reported by WHO. Traditionally, environmental air quality is measured by fixed stations which, however, cannot represent the quality of the air breathed by each individual. Portable or wearable air quality detectors then become necessary to represent more accurately what is in the inhaled air. This thesis aims at the development of a wearable device for monitoring the concentration of the main air pollutants and its integration into a body sensor network, specifically the RespirHó platform. RespirHó is a system for monitoring cardio-respiratory parameters in wearable mode, based on ANT communication protocol. It consists of three inertial units to evaluate respiratory parameters and a wearable pulse oximeter on the wrist. The integration of the environmental monitor in the platform, through an application developed for smartphones, allows the user to choose which combination of devices to use for monitoring. The integration of the environmental monitor is necessary to achieve complete subject monitoring. To test the correct operation of the device, an acquisition protocol was conducted on 12 subjects, involving a walk along a path of about 4.5 Km. The results obtained by the environmental monitor have been validated against a commercially available reference device used as gold standard. The values obtained were also analyzed to highlight significant statistical differences between the samples measured, indicating the presence of spatial and temporal variability of the pollutants during the acquisitions. Moreover, it has been tested the functioning of the overall platform through which it is possible to calculate the subject’s exposure to the main pollutants.
L’inquinamento atmosferico è un killer invisibile che si annida intorno a noi, colpendo sia giovani che anziani. Infatti, è responsabile ogni anno di 7 milioni di morti premature, come riportato da OMS. Tradizionalmente, la qualità ambientale è misurata tramite stazione fisse che, però, non possono rappresentare la qualità dell’aria respirata da ogni singolo individuo. Rilevatori della qualità dell’aria portatili o indossabili diventano quindi necessari per rappresentare con maggiore accuratezza l’aria inalata. Questa tesi mira allo sviluppo di un dispositivo indossabile per il monitoraggio della concentrazione dei principali inquinanti dell’aria e alla sua integrazione nella piattaforma RespirHó. RespirHó è una piattaforma per il monitoraggio dei parametri cardio-respiratori in modalità indossabile, basata su protocollo di comunicazione ANT. È costituita da tre unità di misura inerziali per valutare i parametri respiratori e da un pulsossimetro indossabile al polso. L’integrazione del monitor ambientale nella piattaforma, tramite un’applicazione sviluppata per smartphone, permette all’utente di scegliere quale combinazione di dispositivi usare per il monitoraggio. L’integrazione del monitoraggio ambientale è necessaria per ottenere un monitoraggio completo del soggetto. Per testare il corretto funzionamento del dispositivo, è stato condotto un protocollo di acquisizione su 12 soggetti, che prevede una camminata lungo un percorso di circa 4.5 Km. I risultati ottenuti dal monitor ambientale sono stati validati rispetto a un dispositivo di riferimento disponibile in commercio usato come gold standard. I valori ottenuti sono stati analizzati per evidenziare significative differenze statistiche tra i campioni misurati, indicando la presenza di variabilità spaziale e temporale degli inquinanti durante le acquisizioni. È stato testato, inoltre, il funzionamento della piattaforma RespirHó tramite la quale è possibile calcolare l’esposizione del soggetto ai principali agenti inquinanti.
Development and evaluation of a wearable environmental monitor and integration in a body sensor network
ROSSI, ANDREA
2021/2022
Abstract
Air pollution is an invisible killer that lurks around us, affecting both young and old. In fact, it is responsible every year for 7 million premature deaths, as reported by WHO. Traditionally, environmental air quality is measured by fixed stations which, however, cannot represent the quality of the air breathed by each individual. Portable or wearable air quality detectors then become necessary to represent more accurately what is in the inhaled air. This thesis aims at the development of a wearable device for monitoring the concentration of the main air pollutants and its integration into a body sensor network, specifically the RespirHó platform. RespirHó is a system for monitoring cardio-respiratory parameters in wearable mode, based on ANT communication protocol. It consists of three inertial units to evaluate respiratory parameters and a wearable pulse oximeter on the wrist. The integration of the environmental monitor in the platform, through an application developed for smartphones, allows the user to choose which combination of devices to use for monitoring. The integration of the environmental monitor is necessary to achieve complete subject monitoring. To test the correct operation of the device, an acquisition protocol was conducted on 12 subjects, involving a walk along a path of about 4.5 Km. The results obtained by the environmental monitor have been validated against a commercially available reference device used as gold standard. The values obtained were also analyzed to highlight significant statistical differences between the samples measured, indicating the presence of spatial and temporal variability of the pollutants during the acquisitions. Moreover, it has been tested the functioning of the overall platform through which it is possible to calculate the subject’s exposure to the main pollutants.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2022_12_LM_AndreaRossi_Tesi.pdf
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Descrizione: Tesi
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25.6 MB
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2022_12_LM_AndreaRossi_ExecutiveSummary.pdf
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Descrizione: Executive Summary
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6.07 MB
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6.07 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/198674