A Wearable Multipurpose Toxic Gas-Monitoring Device for Industrial Applications

A constant threat of exposure to toxic industrial gases poses a critical concern for the safety of industrial workers. The existing commercially available gas sensing and monitoring platforms are limited in their abilities to monitor the potential leakages over a wide area and range of toxic gases. The latest advancements in technology have given birth to wearable sensing platforms that can be employed to monitor various physiological and environmental parameters. The use of these wearable devices has been constantly explored for monitoring and detection of toxic gases in the surrounding environment of a user. Unlike, traditional platforms wearable devices provide flexible, portable, and efficient solutions to the problems faced by workers in industries like mining and oil and gas. Current state-of-the-art wearable toxic gas monitoring solutions target a specific type of toxic gas and provide either an expensive or an uncomfortable device for the industrial worker. Also, these devices fail to provide useful information regarding the current health of the user. In this study, a multipurpose toxic gas sensing device has been presented along with the features of physiological signal measurement of the industrial worker. To broaden the scope of the device multiple metal oxide-based gas sensors were integrated and a custom-designed graphical user interface was designed to provide control and safety notifications to the user. Finally, a wireless connection to a custom-designed mobile application lets users analyze and report the data collected from the developed platform. Following the set of features introduced in the device, it can be used in any industrial setting as personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of the workers.