Device, system and method for determining respiratory information of a subject

A system for determining respiratory information of a subject, the system comprising:

• a thermal sensor configured to acquire thermal image data associated with the subject, the thermal image data including data associated with at least a part of the subject's facial area and/or its surrounding;
• a device comprising:
• an image input that is configured to obtain thermal image data via the thermal sensor, the thermal image data including data associated with at least a portion of the subject's facial area and/or its surrounding;
• a processor configured to determine the respiratory information of the subject from the thermal image data, wherein the processor is configured to determine the respiratory information of the subject by:
• identifying, in the thermal image data, thermal image respiratory pixels and/or pixel groups indicative of a temperature variation related to respiration,
• determining, from among the thermal image respiratory pixels and/or pixel groups, respiratory flow pixels and/or pixel groups indicative of a respiratory flow,
• applying one or more spatial filters of the processor to the thermal image respiratory pixels and/or pixel groups to discriminate the respiratory flow pixels and/or pixel groups from respiratory motion pixels and/or pixel groups indicative of a respiratory motion, and
• determining the respiratory information of the subject from the respiratory flow pixels and/or pixel groups and/or the respiratory motion pixels and/or pixel groups;
• and
• an output interface that is configured to output the respiratory information of the subject.

A method for determining respiratory information of a subject, the method comprising:

• obtaining thermal image data of the subject, the thermal image data associated with at least part of the subject's facial area and/or its surrounding;
• determining the respiratory information of the subject from the thermal image data;
• and
• outputting the respiratory information of the subject,
• wherein the respiratory information of the subject is determined by:
• identifying in the thermal image data, respiratory pixels and/or pixel groups indicating temperature variations related to respiration,
• determining, from among the thermal image data respiratory pixels and/or pixel groups, respiratory flow pixels and/or pixel groups indicative of respiratory flow;
• applying one or more spatial filters to the thermal image data respiratory pixels and/or pixel groups to discriminate the respiratory flow pixels and/or pixel groups from respiratory motion pixels and/or pixel groups that show respiratory motion, and
• determining the respiratory information of the subject from the respiratory flow pixels and/or pixel groups and/or the respiratory motion pixels and/or pixel groups.