Spanish researchers develop a microsensor to detect respiratory problems


Spanish researchers develop a microsensor to detect respiratory problems


It self-harnesses energy and is able to detect respiratory problems such as sleep apnea or pneumonia



   Researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Microelectronics Institute of Barcelona (IMB CNM - CSIC) and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) have developed a thermoelectric sensor based on silicon nanotechnology, which is self-sufficient in energy and is able to detect respiratory problems such as sleep apnea or pneumonia.

"Its particularity is that it does not consume external energy, but uses the residual heat for its self-supply, which makes it autonomous, easily integrated into wireless networks and significantly less expensive than other devices on the market," says Sebastián Moreno, CEO of FutureSiSens, the technology-based company that researchers have created for commercialization.

The sensor is extremely sensitive for the detection and measurement of very small variations in the flow of gases, through the temperature difference, which allows the monitoring in real time of physical variables of interest in very diverse areas, among them the one of health.

Thanks to its size, the researchers point out that it could also be easily integrated into personal protective equipment, such as the clothing of professionals working in dangerous activities or at risk, to instantly detect a respiratory failure and send an alarm signal to a switchboard so that you can act immediately.

Multiple applications

The microsensor also has application in the improvement of the energetic efficiency and of the security of industrial plants or of intelligent buildings, to detect escapes of dangerous gases and other anomalies.

"The measurement and collection of data in real time, together with its immediate treatment, are key to effective decision making and, although there are other sensors in the market, a large part are relatively large, consume energy and are not easily integrated into networks wireless, contrary to what the device we have developed, which makes it a very competitive product in these sectors, "says Moreno.

The device, one of the winning projects of the 5th edition of the Entrepreneurs Fund of the Repsol Foundation, has been developed by researchers Javier Rodríguez Viejo and Aitor Lopeandía, from the Department of Physics of the UAB, Libertad Abad and Francisco Javier Muñoz Pascual, of the IMB-CNM and Antonio López, of the UPC.

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