Sensor-Based Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring System for Physically Challenged Asthmatic Patients

Abstract

Asthma, a chronic respiratory condition affects about 300 million people globally from 1970 to date, with approximately 250,000 lives lost each year, requiring careful air quality monitoring for effective management. Most of the existing systems focused on managing emergency cases for asthmatic patients providing them help in managing the situation  during asthmatic attack. This work focused on the development of a system that could help both physically challenged asthmatic persons, children and non-physically challenged person prevent asthmatic attack. The system employed an air-quality sensing subsystem and a mobile application communicating wirelessly. The MQ-135 and MQ-2 gas sensors monitor air quality by measuring environmental factors that trigger asthma attacks. The system processes the data and sends alerts to the smartphone app via the ESP8236 module; activating the visual LED and audible buzzer alarm allows patients and caregivers to take timely precautions against harmful air conditions at the threshold of 300 ppm. The Buzzer alarm and LED were incorporated into the system to help blind and deaf asthmatic persons, respectively. The percentage accuracy and average response time were used as metrics for this work.  A prototype system was successfully developed and tested at Elizade University using perfumes and smoke to disrupt the environment’s air quality, demonstrating its potential for practical use. The system gives a response time of 27.25 and 32 seconds for MQ-135 and MQ-2 sensors, respectively. The accuracy of the system is 75%, and 70%, for MQ-135 and MQ-2 sensors, respectively. The system was designed for portability and easy mobility, allowing both physically challenged and non-physically challenged asthmatic patients to monitor air quality in real-time as they move between locations, as well as their next-of-kin.