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. 2020 May 24;8(1):15.
doi: 10.1186/s40635-020-00302-6.

Method of respiratory rate measurement using a unique wearable platform and an adaptive optical-based approach

Gurpreet Singh  1 , Augustine Tee  2 , Thanawin Trakoolwilaiwan  3 , Aza Taha  2 , Malini Olivo  3
Affiliations

Method of respiratory rate measurement using a unique wearable platform and an adaptive optical-based approach

Gurpreet Singh et al. Intensive Care Med Exp. .

Abstract

Background: An efficient and accurate method of respiratory rate measurement is still missing in hospital general wards and triage. The goal of this study is to propose a method of respiratory rate measurement that has a potential to be used in general wards, triage, and different hospital settings with comparable performance. We propose a method of respiratory rate measurement that combines a unique wearable platform with an adaptive and optical approach. The optical approach is based on a direct-contact optical diffuse reflectance phenomenon. An adaptive algorithm is developed that computes the first respiratory rate and uses it to select a band. The band then chooses a set of unique optimized parameters in the algorithm to calculate and improve the respiratory rate. We developed a study to compare the proposed method against reference manual counts from 82 patients diagnosed with respiratory diseases.

Results: We found good agreement between the proposed method of respiratory rate measurement and reference manual counts. The performance of the proposed method highlighted deviations with a 95% confidence interval (C.I.) of - 3.34 and 3.67 breaths per minute (bpm) and a mean bias and standard deviation (STD) of 0.05 bpm and 2.56 bpm, respectively.

Conclusions: The performance of the proposed method of respiratory rate measurement is comparable with current manual counting and other respiratory rate devices reported. The method has additional advantages that include ease-of-use, quick setup time, and being mobile for wider clinical use. The proposed method has the potential as a tool to measure respiratory rates in a number of use cases.

Keywords: Automated; Breathing pattern; General wards; Manual counts; Respiratory rate; Technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Optical diffuse reflectance approach that is used to extract respiratory rate from the diffused collected signal
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Wearable sensor and patch, b side view use of the wearable platform, and c front-view use of the wearable platform
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Plots of a signal from photo-sensor. b Fourier transform showing 1st harmonic that is respiratory rate and the multiple higher-order harmonics
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Box plot of deviations between the proposed method of respiratory rate measurement and manual counts, across 4 cases (see Table 2)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Bland-Altman plots of a case 3 (no “sub-banding”) and b case 4 (with “sub-banding”)
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Box plot of deviations between the proposed method of respiratory rate measurement and manual counts for case 4 (see Table 2) and across 2 different age groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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