A New Method to Detect Zeolite Breath Sensor Response Based on Low-Power Square-Wave Sources

Low-power A.C. generators of square-wave or sinusoidal signals can be used in combination with impedimetric sensors to detect stimuli on the basis of the voltage drop taking place at the sensor electrodes. When a.c. generators with a power of only a few µ-Watts are used, this approach becomes extremely sensitive. A very low-power generator is the LCD back panel driving signal, which has a flipping polarity with a voltage of 3-5Vpp, depending on the generator model. This type of square-wave generator is contained in many low-cost handheld digital multimeters, and it is used as signal tracer to test, for example, low-frequency amplifiers. As an example, this method has been used to acquire a human breath rate pattern, by using a zeolite-based water sensor. If the generator I-V characteristics has been measured, the achieved breath pattern can be converted from a voltage drop vs. time graph to an impedance or current intensity vs. time graph.