Data fusion for contactless estimation of respiration rate

Abstract

A system for estimating respiration rate is provided. The system includes an audio sensor, a displacement sensor, and a processing unit. The audio sensor, such as a parabolic microphone, produces an audio recording signal. The displacement sensor, such as a camera or laser rangefinder, produces a chest movement signal. The processing unit receives the audio recording signal and the chest movement signal. The processing unit computes an estimated audio respiration rate based on the audio recording signal and an estimated displacement respiration rate based on the chest movement signal. The processing unit computes an audio signal quality index for the audio recording signal and a displacement signal quality index for the chest movement signal. The processing unit determines a fused estimated respiration rate by fusing the estimated audio respiration rate with the estimated displacement respiration rate. The fusing is based on the audio and displacement signal quality indexes.

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