A robust electrode configuration for bioimpedance measurement of respiration

Electrode configuration is an important issue in the continuous measurement of respiration using impedance pneumography (IP). The robust configuration is usually confirmed by comparing the amplitude of the IP signals acquired with different electrode configurations, while the relative change in waveform and the effects of body posture and respiratory pattern are ignored. In this study, the IP signals and respiratory volume are simultaneously acquired from 8 healthy subjects in supine, left lying, right lying and prone postures, and the subjects are asked to perform four respiratory patterns including free breathing, thoracic breathing, abdominal breathing and apnea. The IP signals are acquired with four different chest electrode configurations, and the volume are measured using pneumotachograph (PNT). Differences in correlation and absolute deviation between the IP-derived and PNT-derived respiratory volume are assessed. The influences of noise, respiratory pattern and body posture on the IP signals of different configurations have significant difference (p < 0.05). The robust electrode configuration is found on the axillary midline, which is suitable for long term respiration monitoring.