An optical measurement method for the simultaneous assessment of respiration and heart rates in preterm infants P. Marchionni, L. Scalise, I. Ercoli, and E. P. Tomasini Citation: Review of Scientific Instruments 84, 121705 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4845635 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4845635 View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/rsi/84/12?ver=pdfcov Published by the AIP Publishing Articles you may be interested in A method to synchronize signals from multiple patient monitoring devices through a single input channel for inclusion in list-mode acquisitions Med. Phys. 40, 122502 (2013); 10.1118/1.4828844 Possibility for a full optical determination of photodynamic therapy outcome J. Appl. Phys. 105, 102038 (2009); 10.1063/1.3116610 Optical method using fluence or radiance measurements to monitor thermal therapy Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 393 (2003); 10.1063/1.1519681 Optical coherence and Doppler tomography for monitoring tissue changes induced by laser thermal therapy—An in vivo feasibility study Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 437 (2003); 10.1063/1.1519680 A 32-channel time-resolved instrument for medical optical tomography Rev. Sci. Instrum. 71, 256 (2000); 10.1063/1.1150191

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REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 84, 121705 (2013)

An optical measurement method for the simultaneous assessment of respiration and heart rates in preterm infants P. Marchionni, L. Scalise,a) I. Ercoli, and E. P. Tomasini Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, Ancona, Italy

(Received 25 July 2013; accepted 11 November 2013; published online 20 December 2013) Many conventional medical monitoring devices, while not technically invasive, are nevertheless obtrusive insofar as they require contact with the patient. This obtrusiveness sometimes poses problems in daily clinical practice. The need for contact with electrodes or transducers is particularly relevant in the case of patients recovering in intensive care units where continuous monitoring is required, in turn requiring continuous direct transducer contact for prolonged periods. Among the many physiological parameters commonly acquired, the respiratory and the cardiac rates of the patients are of primary importance. Typically these two parameters are measured respectively using spirometry and electrocardiography (ECG), both involving obtrusive measurement systems requiring contact with the patient with an air conduit and electrodes. This paper presents an optical measurement method for the simultaneous assessment of respiration and heart rates based on the measurement of the chest wall movements, associated with inspiratory/expiratory activities of the lungs and by the mechanical pumping action of the heart. The measurement method has been adapted for use with preterm infants and it has been applied to 55 patients recovering in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The method is based on the use of a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDVi) pointed at the left, ventral thoracic surface of the patient. LDVi-based measures of respiration and heart rate have been simultaneously acquired for each patient, in parallel with the same quantities acquired using conventional reference instrumentation (flow-meter and ECG) for comparison purposes. Results show that for respiration rate, differences with respect to the spirometer data are