Respiratory rate is a vital sign that signifies the movement of air into and out of the lungs through ventilation. In modern medical practices, this vital sign is often inaccurately measured by hospital staff [1]. This phenomenon is problematic considering a fluctuation in respiratory rate is often observed as an early indicator of illness. The recent COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an influx of patients visiting hospitals and a greater need for hospital staff to monitor the vitals of patients in case of respiratory distress. To aid in the important measuring of patient vitals, a device was created to non-invasively measure respiratory rate. This portable, cost-effective device utilizes thermal analysis and facial recognition through two cameras to measure and calculate a patient's respiratory rate from a distance of 30-60 cm away. The respiratory rate is then displayed via a smartphone application. A group of subjects participated in a testing procedure to determine the accuracy of the device. Subject respiration was recorded by the device over a period of 30 seconds. The results were compared to a manual count, verified by a real-time heart rate monitor. The device’s algorithm was found to have an increase in accuracy compared to a previous study of respiratory rates manually counted by trained medical staff [2]. This device, the LeTourneau Engineering Vital Imaging System (LEVIS), provides a more accurate measurement of respiratory rate, which can enable medical staff to attend to other tasks during the measurement period.
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