Real-time Thermal Medium-based Breathing Analysis with Python

Respiration monitoring is an important physiological measurement taken to determine the health of an individual. In clinical sleep studies, respiration activity is monitored to detect sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Existing methods of respiration monitoring either place sensors on the patient's body, causing discomfort to the patient, or monitor respiration remotely with lower accuracy. We present a method of respiratory analysis that is non-contact, but also measures the exhaled air of a human subject directly through a medium-based exhale visualization technique. In this method, we place a thin medium perpendicular to the exhaled airflow of an individual, and use a thermal camera to record the heat signature from the exhaled breath on the opposite side of the material. Respiratory behaviors are extracted from the thermal data in real time using Python. Our prototype is an embedded, low-power device that performs image and signal processing in realtime with Python, making use of powerful existing Python modules for scientific computing and visualization. Our proposed respiration monitoring technique accurately reports breathing rate, and may provide other metrics not obtainable through other non-contact methods. This method can be useful for medical applications where long-term respiratory analysis is necessary, and for applications that require additional information about breathing behavior.