Application of the Single Source—Detector Separation Algorithm in Wearable Neuroimaging Devices: A Step toward Miniaturized Biosensor for Hypoxia Detection

Abstract

Most currently available wearable devices to noninvasively detect hypoxia use the spatially resolved spectroscopy (SRS) method to calculate cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (StO2). This study applies the single source—detector separation (SSDS) algorithm to calculate StO2. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) data were collected from 26 healthy adult volunteers during a breath-holding task using a wearable NIRS device, which included two source—detector separations (SDSs). These data were used to derive oxyhemoglobin (HbO) change and StO2. In the group analysis, both HbO change and StO2 exhibited significant change during a breath-holding task. Specifically, they initially decreased to minimums at around 10 s and then steadily increased to maximums, which were significantly greater than baseline levels, at 25–30 s (p-HbO < 0.001 and p-StO2 < 0.05). However, at an individual level, the SRS method failed to detect changes in cerebral StO2 in response to a short breath-holding task. Furthermore, the SSDS algorithm is more robust than the SRS method in quantifying change in cerebral StO2 in response to a breath-holding task. In conclusion, these findings have demonstrated the potential use of the SSDS algorithm in developing a miniaturized wearable biosensor to monitor cerebral StO2 and detect cerebral hypoxia.