Monitoring breath patterns plays a crucial role in early health diagnostics, revealing vital data such as oxygen intake efficiency and breathing irregularities. Regular tracking of respiration can detect early signs of conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or anxiety-related disorders. With real-time analysis, individuals gain valuable insights into their health, enabling timely intervention. This continuous awareness not only elevates medical care standards but also supports overall physical and mental wellness, significantly contributing to improved quality of life.
Current Methods of Monitoring Breathing
Breathing monitoring techniques can be categorized into two primary groups: invasive methods (which penetrate the skin) and wearable non-invasive methods.
Invasive Techniques:
Invasive methods, such as arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis and tracheal intubation, provide precise and real-time measurements of respiratory metrics. These techniques are commonly used in clinical settings due to their accuracy. However, their invasive nature can cause discomfort, require skilled professionals, and be limited to short-term use, making them unsuitable for continuous monitoring outside medical environments.
Wearable Non-Invasive Techniques:
Wearable devices, such as chest straps, smart textiles, and patches, offer a more convenient way to monitor breathing patterns without penetrating the skin. These devices are easier to use and can be applied in everyday settings. However, they come with challenges, such as discomfort during prolonged use, potential irritation, and social awkwardness due to their visibility. Additionally, these wearables may have issues with accuracy compared to invasive techniques, especially during physical movement, which could affect data quality.
100% Remote LiDAR-based Breathing Monitoring
LiDAR technology offers a promising solution to many of the challenges faced by traditional remote breathing monitoring techniques. Unlike thermal and RGB-D sensors, LiDAR uses laser light to create 3D mappings of the environment, making it immune to environmental factors such as ambient temperature, lighting, and object color or texture. This eliminates the common issues of accuracy degradation in low light, direct sunlight, or with individuals wearing dark clothing.
LiDAR’s key advantages include its color-blind sensing, which avoids the bias found in other sensors that struggle with darker skin tones, thus promoting more equitable outcomes. Additionally, because LiDAR generates sparse point clouds without capturing detailed personal features, it preserves privacy much better than video or thermal cameras, reducing ethical concerns. LiDAR’s versatility is already demonstrated in healthcare applications, such as activity recognition and estimating respiratory metrics like tidal volume, making it an ideal, non-intrusive solution for continuous, privacy-preserving breathing monitoring.
How it Works
Results
The proposed work can recognize breathing regardless of the human’s orientation with respect to the LiDAR
Demo!!
Results
Publications
O. Rinchi, A. Alsharoa, and D.A. Baker, ”Remote Breathing Monitoring Using LiDAR Technology,” accepted in Proc. of the 46-th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC’24), Orlando, Florida, July, 2024.