Unlocking home-based nocturnal health management: A fiber-optic approach for early detection of cardiorespiratory rhythm disorders

Cardiorespiratory rhythm disorders (CRD) are prevalent yet underdiagnosed conditions with substantial health risks. Current diagnostic methods are limited by invasiveness, intermittent symptom presentation, and low sensitivity during wakefulness. Sleep, by contrast, offers a stable physiological state ideal for early CRD detection. Here, we introduce a fiber-optic vital sign monitoring pillow (VSMP) that aims to realize the vision of home-based nocturnal health management, leveraging natural sleep for the accurate and unobtrusive early detection of CRD. By integrating fiber-optic sensing, biomechanical engineering, and advanced signal processing, the VSMP achieves early CRD detection through heart rate variability analysis and Lorenz scatter plots, while also facilitating blood pressure estimation (<8% error). Thus, we present VSMP as a new paradigm that transforms passive sleep into an active diagnostic session, paving the way for data-driven, personalized health management and proactive, precision medicine directly in the home environment.