Design and calibration of a wearable and wireless research grade air quality monitoring system for real-time data collection

We introduce the design, calibration, and validation of a wearable, wireless, and secure air quality monitoring sensor system that is integrated with a smartphone application and back-end server for realtime data collection. To this end, an Alphasense OPC-N2 optical air quality monitoring sensor was integrated with a wireless hardware platform and real-time smartphone application, which sent particulate matter data securely to a back-end server in real time for researchers to be able to monitor and perform in depth analyses. The particulate matter data of different sizes and concentrations was calibrated for temperature and humidity changes to achieve accurate airborne dust densities for indoor and outdoor applications. The sensor system was then tested for validity and reliability under real-world conditions using a professional grade Dylos DC Pro Air Quality Monitor and a wired version of itself. The high correlations between the wireless system and the professional sensor indicate that this system is highly accurate and reliable, and is thus suitable for use in future remote health and environmental monitoring research applications.