IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Fall 2020 - 34

Physicians have been documenting their
experiences under the heavy siege of the
pandemic, emphasizing the presence of silent
hypoxia and hypoxemia.
cells, causing the air sacs to collapse
and leading to a decline in the O2 levels in the blood. However, since the
lungs are not yet filled with fluids,
they can still expel carbon dioxide
(CO2) [1]. Patients try to compensate
for the low O2 levels by breathing
faster and deeper. This early phase
is called silent hypoxia because
patients do not present with shortness of breath caused by the buildup
of CO2 in the lungs. As the disease
progresses, it is reported that fluid
can start building in the lungs. The
lungs are unable to expel CO2, and
the deadlier second phase of the
disease begins in 20 -30% of the
patients [1]. Unfortunately, by the
time this visible symptom presents,
the damage has already been done to
the lungs.
As in the COVID-19 example, respiratory failure is unpredictable in nature
and can become life threatening in a
matter of minutes [5]. Changes in vital
sign parameters often reveal important markers of the onset of a deterioration in health, leading to severe
consequences. Frequent alterations in
respiration parameters reflect compromised neurological and cardiopulmonary functions [6]. Quantifying the
real-time dynamics and physiological
distributions of blood gas measurements of CO2 and O2 are imperative to
both clinicians and researchers. These
data provide a detailed understanding of physiological and pathological
conditions. In this context, long-term
aggregation of the data from respiratory parameters measurement may
offer novel insights into respiratory
diseases that are not fully understood,
such as COVID-19.
The ability to continuously monitor a person's respiration rate and
effort, coupled with his or her blood
gas content of O2 and CO2, would
provide significant and invaluable

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insight into the individual's well-being
[7], [8]. Patients with respiratory disorders, from mild issues to severe
complications requiring -mechanical
ventilation, are at risk for acute
res--piratory failure [9]. Changes in a
patient's respiratory rate can also
indicate a critical medical event that
may require immediate intervention
and admission to the intensive care
unit (ICU) [10]. Factors such as postoperative respiratory complications,
premature births, severe infection
and trauma, certain psychiatric and
psychological conditions such as
claustrophobia and anxiety, and
diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and
COVID-19 can cause abnormal respiratory activity. Therefore, it is of the
utmost importance to have the ability to sense and measure respiratory
parameters in a continuous, reliable,
and accurate manner across different
conditions [11], [12].
The need for continuous and re--
mote monitoring is clearly e
- vident
for COVID-19-infected patients as well
as for the contact tracing of potential patients. Due to the threat of the
disease and the likelihood of getting
infected, many patients are reluctant to visit health-care centers. By
the time a patient starts to experience shortness of breath, indicating a
buildup of fluid in the lungs, it may be
too late. Many patients are admitted to
hospitals only after COVID-19-related
pneumonia has reached an advanced
stage. This significant delay in treating patients who enter the emergency
room has critically strained healthcare systems throughout the world.
This strain has led to a high mortality
rate, especially in the early weeks of
the COVID-19 breakout. A miniaturized blood gas monitor attached to a
patient's body can help with monitoring individuals in their home. A person

IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

should not have to choose between
a fear of getting sick and receiving
proper care.
Since the severity of COVID-19 varies widely depending on the individual who contracts it, we must respond
to the infection by personalizing the
treatment. Roughly 30% of COVID-19
patients have cloudy lungs, low levels of O2 in their blood, and shortness
of breath [1]. These are indications
of the improper functioning of the
lungs. Surprisingly, a large number of
patients have normal-looking lungs
but low blood O2 [2], each requiring
a unique treatment. Patients with
shortness of breath require immediate access to mechanical ventilators. Those with only low O2 need
less-intensive therapy. In COVID-19
treatment, a side effect of mechanical
ventilation, which fills the lungs with
forced air to increase a patient's intake
of O2, is damage to the thin air sacs of
the lungs. Because air sacs are responsible for O2 exchange, damaged air
sacs simply exacerbate the situation.
As a result of the heavy use of ventilators in the early phases of COVID-19
treatment, death rates have reached
60% in some ICUs. Studies have shown
that mechanical ventilation takes its
toll on the lungs [13]. Therefore, early
detection and treatment could lower
the number of deaths from COVID-19.
On the other hand, the sheer number of patients requiring intervention
has led to an acute shortage of ventilators and put tremendous strain
on our fragile health-care systems.
Additionally, it has placed our healthcare workers and first responders
at high risk of contracting the virus.
Ventilating a patient is a complicated
procedure, consuming considerable
resources to administer and maintain
care. Connecting intravenous and
arterial lines for infusing medicine via
registered infusion pumps; administering sedatives to patients (who
often accidentally remove the breathing tubes), and inserting breathing
tubes and bladder tubes are some
of the examples of the medical procedures that require an orchestrated
team of experts.

IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Fall 2020

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