title: Two proximal skin electrodes--a respiration rate body sensor.
abstract: We propose a new body sensor for extracting the respiration rate based on the amplitude changes in the body surface potential differences between two proximal body electrodes. The sensor could be designed as a plaster-like reusable unit that can be easily fixed onto the surface of the body. It could be equipped either with a sufficiently large memory for storing the measured data or with a low-power radio system that can transmit the measured data to a gateway for further processing. We explore the influence of the sensor&rsquo;s position on the quality of the extracted results using multi-channel ECG measurements and considering all the pairs of two neighboring electrodes as potential respiration-rate sensors. The analysis of the clinical measurements, which also include reference thermistor-based respiration signals, shows that the proposed approach is a viable option for monitoring the respiration frequency and for a rough classification of breathing types. The obtained results were evaluated on a wireless prototype of a respiration body sensor. We indicate the best positions for the respiration body sensor and prove that a single sensor for body surface potential difference on proximal skin electrodes can be used for combined measurements of respiratory and cardiac activities.
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. roman.trobec@ijs.si
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trobec
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rashkovska
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Avbelj
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D056152:Respiratory Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena