Title: Electronic detection of pneumothorax using frequency-to-voltage converter

Authors: Musaab Hassan; Hajer Eltigani; Elsarraf Ibrahim; Wijdan Abdalla

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Sudan University of Sciences and Technology, P.O. Box 407, Khartoum, Sudan ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, P.O. Box 12810, Khartoum, Sudan ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, P.O. Box 12810, Khartoum, Sudan ' Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, P.O. Box 12810, Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract: Pneumothorax may occur as a result of disease or injury and it is considered as a severe emergency case. The detection of pneumothorax is usually carried out using a stethoscope and X-rays. However, this process is very slow and could delay patient treatment. This work proposed an electronic detection method for breath sound using frequency-to-voltage converter circuit. The results obtained from the designed circuit can be applied to indicate the presence of pneumothorax. The circuit was divided into three stages: a pickup circuit, which detects the breath sound and converts it into a measurable voltage signal; a bandpass filter circuit, which provides the range of the normal breathing signal (200-600 Hz); and the final stage is a frequency-to-voltage converter.

Keywords: pnumothorax; biomechatronics; frequency-to-voltage converters; electronic diagnosis; medical diagnoses; breath sound; breathing signals.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2013.055042

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2013 Vol.11 No.2, pp.169 - 174

Received: 08 May 2012
Accepted: 12 Mar 2013
Published online: 27 Sep 2014 *

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