System for monitoring respiratory function using multiple sensors and sound, flow, and chest movement signals

Abstract

A system for multisensory monitoring of respiratory function using acoustic, flow, and thoracic movement signals, the system comprising: an acoustic sensor unit for detecting respiratory sounds from the chest or airways of a subject, wherein the acoustic sensor unit comprises at least one transducer enclosed in a sound-insulated structure, connected to an analog signal conditioning circuit comprising an amplification circuit and a filter circuit; a flow measurement unit for measuring the inspiratory and expiratory airflow of the subject, wherein the flow measurement unit comprises a flow channel and at least one pressure or heat sensor element that generates electrical signals corresponding to changes in airflow;a chest motion detection unit configured to detect mechanical movements of the subject's chest or abdominal region, wherein the chest motion detection unit comprises at least one inertial sensor or strain-sensitive sensor integrated into a wearable structure; a signal acquisition unit electrically connected to the acoustic sensor unit, the flow sensor unit, and the thoracic motion sensor unit, wherein the signal acquisition unit comprises a multi-channel analog-to-digital converter circuit configured to sample signals from each sensor unit using a common time reference;a processing unit operationally linked to the signal acquisition unit and configured to receive synchronized digital signals, the processing unit comprising at least one processor configured for noise reduction, feature extraction, and multisensor data fusion to derive respiratory parameters; and a communication unit configured to transmit processed respiratory data to an external device.