An Experimental Evaluation of Respiration by Monitoring Ribcage Motion

This paper aims to make an early diagnosis of respiratory disorders by measuring ribcage motion. A statistically significant numerical evaluation of the biomechanics of respiration is obtained through the acquisition of the kinematics of the sixth rib. We report the results of an experimental campaign that has been conducted using a RESPIRholter prototype for efficient and comfortable respiration monitoring on two groups of volunteers, one with healthy people and the other with chest-operated patients. The data from repeated acquisitions are statistically processed to analyze results in terms of angular motion and linear acceleration, which can be used to characterize and classify respiration motion. This experimental campaign can be considered a first result for the construction of a database useful for a reference of diagnostics, as reported by the discussed example case study.