|   Heartbeat Chest Displacement

Context

Human respiration can be modeled as an electrical circuit to increase the sensitivity, repeatability, and objectivity of pulmonary disease diagnosis.

One of the assumptions for this model to detect COPD is that the chest wall does not move during testing.

Goal

Identify a method to detect chest wall movement that could be implemented during pulmonary functional testing.

My role

Undergraduate researcher with $2,000 university grant

Prototype

• Bench-top device

• Transceiver <--> Breadboard <--> DAQ <--> LabView

Fabrication Techniques

• Soldering

• Basic electronic components on breadboard 

• DAQ wiring

Outcomes

• Demonstrated proof-of-concept to measure small chest wall deflections by having test subjects sit relaxed with breath held

• Future work could have test subjects wired with ECG to confirm doppler exhibit the same period as ECG measurements