Feasibility Study of a Giant Magneto-Resistance Based Respiration Rate Monitor

This paper reports a simple and reliable electronic technique for the estimation of respiration rate (RR). Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR) based sensors are employed to extract a plethysmograph signal from the subject. This signal is filtered and processed further through simple signal processing stages to obtain RR indication. The feasibility of the system has been studied on a prototype built and associated experimentation on 20 volunteers. The developed system provided clean plethysmographic signals, whose relevant features are shown to possess a relation with RR. Test results shows that the worst-case error in RR estimation of the system is merely 2 breaths per minute. Further, the capability of the system for detecting breathing cessations is studied and results reported. The system can be extended to function as a heart-rate (HR) monitor. Some basic results which proves the working and accuracy of system as a HR estimator is also given in the paper. The proposed system can be used for effective estimation of the above two vital signs in clinics, automotives, wearable devices, etc.