Non-restraint Pulmonary Function Test Using Active Body Shape Measurement

We propose a new nonrestraint pulmonary function test using the dot matrix pattern projection. In the pulmonary function test, the function of respiratory gas exchange and air infiltration is examined. The pulmonary function test by spirometer is generally conducted. In this test, the respiratory compromise is diagnosed by FEV_1.0% (Forced Expiratory Volume _1.0%) and %VC (% Vital Capacity). The test subject, especially child, woman and older person, senses the restraint sensation, because mouthpiece and nasal plug must be attached to the face of the test subject under the test. We have studied the nonrestraint pulmonary function test using the dot matrix pattern projection in order to decrease the burden to the examinee. In our proposed system, the pattern light projector illuminates the thorax with the dot matrix pattern light. And the CCD camera takes a series of images of the dot matrix pattern. The respiratory waveform is calculated by the shift quantity of dot matrix pattern between frames. The respiratory waveform of our proposed system was similar to one of spirometer. Therefore, we clarified that our proposed system can equivalently measure the respiration with spirometer in previous research. In this paper, we examined a quantification of the respiratory movement. The three dimensional shape of the body surface is calculated by the distribution of dot lights. The volume change by respiratory movement can be calculated by the time-series change of the three dimensional shape. As a result of comparing the waveform of the volume change calculated by this system and the flow rate waveform measured by spirometer, there was the high correlation between this system and spirometer on measured value. In consequence, we thought that this system can be applied to the nonrestratint pulmonary function test. And we examined two methods for calculating the respiratory waveform, which are devised by us