Development and Performance Evaluation of Wearable Respiratory Self-Training System Using Patch Type Magnetic Sensor

PURPOSE: Respiratory training system that can be used by patients themselves was developed with a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS)-based patch-type magnetic sensor. We conducted a basic function test and clinical usability evaluation to determine the system’s clinical applicability. METHODS: The system is designed with a sensor attached to the patient’s chest and a magnet on the back to monitor the patient’s respiration by measuring changes in magnetic intensity related to respiratory movements of the thoracic surface. The system comprises a MEMS-based patch-type magnetic sensor capable of wireless communication and being applied to measurement magnets and mobile applications. System performance was evaluated by the level of systemic noise, the precision of the sensor in various breathing patterns, how measurement signals change for varying distances, or the presence or absence of material between the sensor and the magnet. Various breathing patterns were created using the QUASAR respiratory motion phantom; the data obtained were analyzed using the fitting and peak value analysis methods. RESULTS: The sensor had a noise ratio of <0.54% of the signal; the average errors in signal amplitude and period for breathing patterns were 78.87 um and 72 ms, respectively. The signal could be measured consistently when the sensor–magnet distance was 10–25 cm. The signal difference was 1.89% for the presence or absence of a material, indicating that its influence on the measurement signal is relatively small. CONCLUSION: The potential of our MEMS-based patch-type wearable respiratory self-training system was confirmed via basic function tests and clinical usability evaluations. We believe that the training system could provide thorough respiratory training for patients after a clinical trial with actual patients confirming its clinical efficacy and usability.