Unconstrained Measurement of Respiration Motions of Chest and Abdomen Using a Tactile Sensor Sheet in Supine Position on Bed

Abstract

The management of health through daily monitoring of respiration is of major importance for early diagnosis to prevent respiratory and circulatory diseases. Such daily health monitoring is possible only if the monitoring system is physically and psychologically noninvasive. However, current unconstrained measurement methods cannot distinguish chest and abdominal movements in diagnosing sleep apnea. In this study, a flexible and stretchable tactile sensor sheet was developed to measure the static body pressure of a subject who lies on it and measure the pressure fluctuations induced by respiration or respiratory efforts. The results were compared with the measurements by band sensors that are widely used for measuring chest and abdominal movements in clinic. It was demonstrated that the sensor sheet can distinguish chest and abdominal movements in a supine position. The reasons why the pressure fluctuations measured by the sensor sheet are antiphase with the outputs of band sensors are discussed using a simple dynamic model.