Device to Measure Respiratory Movement with Ventilation in Infant Patients

Currently, clinical measurements of the circumferential change in young pediatric patients (ages 0-3 years) are taken primarily by qualitative and subjective means, leading to high variability between clinicians and causing a lack of overall standardization in the measurements. This inter-clinician variation can result in continued use of ineffective treatments and misunderstandings of patient improvement over time, risking extended treatment and unnecessary economic burden. An objective and qualitative means of measuring the chest circumference displacement in patients ages 0-3 years while breathing is proposed, containing a mechanical spring-based measurement system to be worn by the patient and an algorithmic code used to calculate the change in chest circumference when used with a recorded video of the measurement system. Using this measurement system would allow clinicians to establish standardized timelines for improvement of chest circumference change over time with therapy and understand the efficacy or inefficacy of different treatments for individual patients.