McNair Scholar 2020 Quan Guan

Quan Guan is a junior majoring in Electrical Engineering at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His research interests are about embedded systems and circuit design. He plans to get his Master Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering through the five-year combined program.

Quan Guan headshot
My dream is to apply the knowledge that I have to ensure the quality of people’s life. I also want more people to be engaged in science and engineering.

Research project

Sleep Apnea Detector with Polyvinylidene Fluoride File Sensor and Bluetooth Low Energy

Abstract: Sleep apnea is temporary loss of breathing during sleep for more than ten seconds. This study proposes a sleep apnea detection device with Bluetooth capability. The breath is sensed by the Polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF) sensor and is processed by the Analog Front End(AFE) circuit. The filtered signal is sampled by the nRF52832 System on Chip (SoC), which is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device that can communicate with the cellphone. The device consumes 20 μA in active mode and no more than 6 μA in sleep mode. The AFE can output correct voltage signal based on the breath. When the BLE module detects sleep apnea, a notification is sent to the user’s cellphone. This method demonstrates the feasibility of an inexpensive, wearable, and battery-powered device for screening the sleep apnea.

View the poster presentation

Faculty mentor

Dr. John Sartori currently is an associate professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Dr. Sartori attended ​University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2012. His research focuses on computer architecture and computer aided design, particularly on the ultra-low power embedded systems. His works appear in various journals and conferences worldwide. He also investigates body-integrated wearable electronics with emphasis on manufacturability, enhancing human function and performance, and electronic design automation.