Novel electrode configuration for highly linear impedance pneumography

Impedance pneumography (IP) is a non-invasive respiration measurement technique. Emerging applications of IP in respiratory medicine use the measured signal to monitor pulmonary flow and volume parameters related to airway obstruction during tidal breathing (TB). This requires a high impedance change (Delta Z)-to-lung volume change (Delta V) linearity. Four potential electrode configurations were tested on 10 healthy subjects. Only the novel configuration where the electrodes were placed in both the thorax and the arms yielded a highly linear Delta Z/Delta V in all subjects. The presented electrode configuration may expand the clinical use of IP from the conventional tidal volume estimation to flow measurement.