Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
A device for experimental characterization of breathing and coughing
Submission Author:
Marco Ceccarelli , Italy , Italy
Co-Authors:
Marco Ceccarelli
Presenter: Marco Ceccarelli
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-0273
Abstract
Breathing is obtained by ventilation consisting in a mobilization of a defined air volume and it is carried out by rib cage through a variation of intra-thoracic pressure by contraction and relaxation of diaphragm and intercostal muscles. Rib cage is a very peculiar district, with several components (cartilages, ribs and muscles) contributing to its biomechanics. The paper addresses attention on design requirements and device design with testing results. Design requirements for the development of a measurement device evaluating the respiratory/breathing act can be summarized according to the three main lines as referring to the clinic of the thoracic cage, the general characteristics of the structure, and functionality of the device. In particular, for the respiratory act clinic, the device must be able to measure and monitor the respiratory act in its main aspects being referred to the kinematics of the motion act, considering physiological conditions. The general characteristics of the device can be expected in terms of a low-cost and easily usable device by users who can be intended as both medical operators and patients. The mechanical design must be ergonomic for a comfortable use by the user whose respiratory act is being measured and therefore also dimensioned in geometry and weight such as to ensure easy portability as well as a simple and comfortable wearing for the required period of respiratory monitoring. The purpose of the device in terms of functionality can be defined in evaluation not only of the biomechanics of the respiratory act but also of the interpretative consequences at a clinical level, and therefore the device must be completed and integrated by appropriate software that implements processing and numerical evaluation algorithms. of the data for an adequate diagnosis of the respiratory act. Breathing biomechanics is differentiated in male and female and changes with age, a precise method to evaluate rib cage motion can be useful to personalize a treatment with logic/algorithm/process for each specific patient. At present, there are not optimal methods to measure chest wall displacement and the available techniques are too expensive and unprecise. A novel and non-invasive system named as SENSIRIB, is presented as based on an Inertial Measurement Unit device integrated with electronics and biomechanics elaboration to get a portable easily wearable device that has been tested in a study of 150 participants with preliminary results that are discussed as validation of the device performance.
Keywords
biomechanics, Medical devices, Design, testing
