Monitoring respiration with a thermal imaging system
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring respiration using a thermal imaging system, the method comprising:
- capturing thermal images of a subject of interest intended to be monitored for respiration using a thermal image camera set to a temperature of a facial region of said subject, each thermal image comprising a plurality of pixels each corresponding to a surface temperature of said facial region across a thermal wavelength band;
retrieving locational relationship of vectors and angles to determine said location of a facial feature consisting of a nose and a mouth by;
using a location of eyes relative to a location of ears of said subject to locate said nose, andusing a location of said ears and chin to locate said mouth;
analyzing said thermal images to determine said location of said nose and said mouth;
tracking physical motion of said facial feature over time to identify a physical motion pattern of respiration, said tracked physical motion being independent from determining a thermal pattern of respiration using thermal image analysis of said facial feature;
determining a respiration rate from said physical motion pattern of respiration;
performing any of;
comparing said determined respiration rate to a pre-defined respiration rate, and comparing said determined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern to a pre-defined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern; and
initiating an alarm in response to either of said comparisons falling outside a level of acceptability.
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Abstract
What is disclosed is a system and method for monitoring respiration of a subject or subject of interest using a thermal imaging system with single or multiple spectral bands set to a temperature range of a facial region of that person. Temperatures of extremities of the head and face are used to locate facial features in the captured thermal images, i.e., nose and mouth, which are associated with respiration. The RGB signals obtained from the camera are plotted to obtain a respiration pattern. From the respiration pattern, a rate of respiration is obtained. The system includes display and communication interfaces wherein alerts can be activated if the respiration rate falls outside a level of acceptability. The teachings hereof find their uses in an array of devices such as, for example, devices which monitor the respiration of an infant to signal the onset of a respiratory problem or failure.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring respiration using a thermal imaging system, the method comprising:
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capturing thermal images of a subject of interest intended to be monitored for respiration using a thermal image camera set to a temperature of a facial region of said subject, each thermal image comprising a plurality of pixels each corresponding to a surface temperature of said facial region across a thermal wavelength band; retrieving locational relationship of vectors and angles to determine said location of a facial feature consisting of a nose and a mouth by; using a location of eyes relative to a location of ears of said subject to locate said nose, and using a location of said ears and chin to locate said mouth; analyzing said thermal images to determine said location of said nose and said mouth; tracking physical motion of said facial feature over time to identify a physical motion pattern of respiration, said tracked physical motion being independent from determining a thermal pattern of respiration using thermal image analysis of said facial feature; determining a respiration rate from said physical motion pattern of respiration; performing any of;
comparing said determined respiration rate to a pre-defined respiration rate, and comparing said determined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern to a pre-defined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern; andinitiating an alarm in response to either of said comparisons falling outside a level of acceptability. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for monitoring respiration using a thermal imaging system, the system comprising:
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a thermal image camera set to a temperature of a facial region of a subject of interest intended to be monitored for respiration, said thermal camera capturing thermal images of said subject of interest, each thermal image comprising a plurality of pixels each corresponding to a surface temperature of said facial region across a thermal wavelength band; a memory and a storage medium; and a processor in communication with and said thermal image camera, said storage medium and said memory, said processor executing machine readable instructions for performing; retrieving locational relationship of vectors and angles to determine said location of a facial feature consisting of a nose and a mouth by; using a location of eyes relative to a location of ears of said subject to locate said nose, and using a location of said ears and chin to locate said mouth; analyzing said captured thermal images to determine said location of said nose and said mouth; tracking physical motion of said facial feature over time to identify a physical motion pattern of respiration, said tracked physical motion being independent from determining a thermal pattern of respiration using thermal image analysis of said facial feature; determining a respiration rate from said physical motion pattern of respiration; performing any of;
comparing said determined respiration rate to a pre-defined respiration rate, and comparing said determined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern to a pre-defined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern; andinitiating an alarm in response to either of said comparisons falling outside a level of acceptability. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer implemented method for monitoring respiration using a thermal imaging system, the method comprising:
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capturing thermal images of a subject of interest intended to be monitored for respiration using a thermal image camera set to a temperature of a facial region of said subject, each thermal image comprising a plurality of pixels each corresponding to a surface temperature of said facial region across a thermal wavelength band; retrieving locational relationship of vectors and angles to determine said location of a facial feature consisting of a nose and a mouth by; using a location of eyes relative to a location of ears of said subject to locate said nose, and using a location of said ears and chin to locate said mouth; analyzing said thermal images to determine said location of said nose and said mouth; tracking physical motion of said facial feature over time to identify a physical motion pattern of respiration, said tracked physical motion being independent from determining a thermal pattern of respiration using thermal image analysis of said facial feature; determining a respiration rate from said physical motion pattern of respiration; performing any of;
comparing said determined respiration rate to a pre-defined respiration rate, and comparing said determined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern to a pre-defined physical motion pattern of respiration pattern; andinitiating an alarm in response to either of said comparisons falling outside a level of acceptability. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification