title: Development of a bio-inspired mechatronic chest wall simulator for evaluating the performances of opto-electronic plethysmography.
abstract: Instrumented gait analysis based on optoelectronic systems is an expensive technique used to objectively measure the human movement features and it is generally considered as the gold standard. Opto-electronic plethysmography (OEP) is a particular motion analysis system able to: (i) determine chest wall kinematic via the evaluation of marker displacements placed on the thorax and (ii) compute respiratory volumes during breathing. The aim of this work is to describe the performances of a custom made, bio-inspired, mechatronic chest wall simulator (CWS), specifically designed to assess the metrological performances of the OEP system. The design of the simulator is based on the chest wall kinematic analysis of three healthy subjects previously determined. Two sets of experiments were carried out: (i) to investigate the CWS dynamic response using different target displacements (1 - 12 mm), and (ii) to assess the CWS accuracy and precision in simulating quite breathing, covering the physiological range of respiratory frequency and tidal volume. Results show that the CWS allows simulating respiratory frequency up to ~ 60 bpm. The difference between the actual displacement and the set one is always < 9 μm. The precision error, expressed as the ratio between measurement uncertainty and the actual displacement, is lower than 0.32 %. The observed good performances permit to consider the CWS prototype feasible to be employed for assessing the performances of OEP system in periodical validation routines.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Center for Integrated Research, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Álvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Massaroni
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: C
authors.affiliation: Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Center for Integrated Research, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Álvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Schena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: E
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of ROMA TRE, Via della Vasca Navale 79/81, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Bastianini
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: F
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of ROMA TRE, Via della Vasca Navale 79/81, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Scorza
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: A
authors.affiliation: Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Center for Integrated Research, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Álvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Saccomandi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: P
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of ROMA TRE, Via della Vasca Navale 79/81, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Lupi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: G
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of ROMA TRE, Via della Vasca Navale 79/81, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Botta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: F
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of ROMA TRE, Via della Vasca Navale 79/81, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Sciuto
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: S A
authors.affiliation: Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Center for Integrated Research, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Álvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvestri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: S
keywords: Breathing pattern; chest wall kinematic; chest wall simulator; metrological assessment; motion analysis; opto-electronic plethysmography; respiratory monitoring.