A respiration sensor for a chest-strap based wireless body sensor

In this paper we present a respiration sensor suitable for an integration into a wireless body sensor worn around the chest. The thorax expansion and contraction during in- and exhalation is captured using a force-sensing resistor. Based on the captured thoracic movements, the breaths are determined with a peak detection algorithm. For evaluation, a treadmill experiment with five subjects was conducted using an ergospirometry system as a reference. Overall, an average deviation of -0.32±0.68 min^-1 in the respiration rate between the ergospirometry and our sensor was observed. In general, the captured thoracic movements showed breaths as distinctive oscillations, but in some cases a non-optimal pressure transfer between thorax and sensor was observed. Therefore, a mechanical housing mechanism was developed. A comparison of our construction with a respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP)-based sensor shows a close relationship with the captured thoracic movements during normal and deep respiration.