respiBAN BLE
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respiBAN BLE
Designed & Made in Portugal

Table of Contents
General Information .............................................................................................. 4
Specifications ...............................................................................................................4
Features ........................................................................................................................4
Applications ..................................................................................................................5
Electrical Specifications ................................................................................................5Application Notes .................................................................................................. 6
Setup ............................................................................................................................6
Motion Sensor Axes & Orientation ..................................................................................7
LED Color Codes ...........................................................................................................8
System LED States ........................................................................................................8
Battery LED States .........................................................................................................9Transfer Functions ................................................................................................. 9Electrocardiography (ECG) Sensor .................................................................................9
Accelerometer ..............................................................................................................9
Gyroscope.....................................................................................................................9

Sample Signals .................................................................................................... 11
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Respiration Signals...................................................................................................... 11
Normal Respiration.......................................................................................................................... 11
Normal Respiration vs. Deep Respiration......................................................................................... 12
Slow Respiration vs. Fast Respiration .............................................................................................. 13
Apnea .............................................................................................................................................. 14

Motion Sensors ........................................................................................................... 15
Accelerometer ................................................................................................................................. 15
Gyroscope ....................................................................................................................................... 16

Disclaimer ........................................................................................................... 17
For a getting started guide, visit the following article:
https://support.pluxbiosignals.com/knowledge-base/respiban-ble-getting-started/
For support visit
www.support.pluxbiosignals.com

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RESPIBAN BLE (2024)

General Information
Introducing respiBAN BLE, your go-to wireless wearable for hassle-free respiration and motion data collection.
Designed with your comfort in mind, respiBAN is the solution for seamless research in any setting. Say goodbye
to bulky, uncomfortable devices — respiBAN is designed to ensure user comfort, even during dynamic activities.
Plus, it's ready to use as a medical device OEM, and you can jumpstart your work. Talk to our team for more
information.

Specifications> On-Board Sensors:> Sensor Ranges> Communication:> Communication Range:> Internal Memory:> Battery:> Battery Lifetime:> Charging Port:> Size:> Weight:

1x Inductive Respiration Sensor
1x Triaxial Accelerometer
1x Triaxial Gyroscope
Respiration: 540nH to 47uH (converted into rel. changes)
Accelerometer: ±8g
Gyroscope: ±500dps
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) (v.5.3)
Up to 10m (in line of sight)
Up to 10h
Rechargeable 155mA 3.7V LiPo
Up to 10h in continuous streaming
Micro-USB compatible with an standard USB Charger
31x71x11mm
27g

Features> Wearable for single-channel Respiration & motion data acquisition> Respiration measurement, including apnea detection> Respiration measurements with inductive sensor; intrinsically electrical isolated from the body
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www.pluxbiosignals.com> Raw signal acquired at 400Hz> Miniaturized and bendable form factor for better adaption to the body shape

Applications
This product is designed for life science education and research. It is not a medical device and is not suitable forany kind of medical use.
> Respiration recording, respiration rate extraction & motion data extraction> Life sciences studies> Biomedical research> Human-Computer Interaction> Robotics & Cybernetics> Physiology studies> Psychophysiology> Biomechanics> Ergonomics

Electrical Specifications

Number of channels
Resolution
Input full-scale*
Analog bandwidth
Sample rate

Respiration
1
28 bit540nH to 47uH
[DC to 200Hz]
400 HzACC
3
16 bit+/-8G[dc to 415Hz]
400 HzGYR
3
16 bit+/-500dps[dc to 315Hz]
400 Hz* In PLUX software converted into relative changes around the signal’s baseline

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Application Notes
A detailed Getting Started guide covering everything needed around the cardioBAN is available on our support
page:
https://support.pluxbiosignals.com/knowledge-base/respiban-ble-getting-started/
The respiBAN should be used with the inductive band that comes with your wearbale.

Respiration Belt Positioning
The respiration belt can be placed around the thorax or abdomen for abdominal or thoracic respiration
recordings.
For thoracic respiration, place the respiration belt around the thorax around the nipple line. For abdominal
respiration, place the respiration belt below the ribcage.

Figure 1: respiBAN belt positioning options

Follow these intructions for best signal recording results:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Place the respiration belt around the thorax or upper abdomen
Fixate the belt using the velcro bands at both ends of your respiration belt
Adjust the belt to the size of your body. The respiration should be set tightly yet comfortably to ensure
good signal recordings.
Place the respiBAN wearable on the respiration belt by connecting the female stud connectors on theback of the device to the male stud connectors of the respiration belt.

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Figure 2: Backside of the respiBAN wearable with the two stud connectors.

Motion Sensor Axes & Orientation
respiBAN comes with built-in triaxial Accelerometer and Gyroscope for motion sensing. The default axis layout
for the triaxial motion of the Acceleroemter is set as follows:

Figure 3: respiBAN motion sensor axes.

Depending on the orientation of your sensor, the axis can change. It’s recommended to test the orientation ofyour respiBAN with your sensor data to identify the matching signals. In an Accelerometer, the most prominent
axis to identify is the vertical Z-axis, which is naturally offset by approximately 1G because the Earth’s
gravitational force accelerates along this axis.

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LED Color Codes

Figure 4: respiBAN's feedback LEDs

System LED States
State
OFF
IDLE

START_ ACQUIRING

Description
The device is switched off
The device is turned on and waiting
for some interaction.
The device is turned on and waiting
for some interaction, but it has aschedule loaded in memory to startan acquisition.
The device is turned on and waiting
for some interaction, but a BLE
Bluetooth connection has been
established with a host machine.
The device is turned on and waiting
for some interaction.
It has a schedule loaded in memory tostart an acquisition.
A BLE Bluetooth connection has
been established with a hostmachine.
The device has started an acquisition.

ACQUIRINGERROR

The device is in aquation mode.
The device is in an error state.

IDLE + SCHEDULEDIDLE + CONNECTEDIDLE+
SCHEDULEDCONNECTED+

LED effect
Off, no lighting effect
Blinking yellow at 0.5Hz
Alternates between yellow and blue
at 0.5Hz

Blinking green at 0.5Hz

Alternates between green and blue at
0.5Hz

Fast blinking blue at 5Hz during 1
secondBlinking blue at 0.5Hz
Blinking red at 2Hz

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Battery LED States
State
NORMAL/CHARGED

CHARGING
LOW_BATTDISCHARGED_BATT

Description
The LED being off occurs in two
situations:(a) Device has an appropriate charge
level for its operation.
(b) Device is fully charged.
Device is charging
The device's battery level is getting
low; it is recommended to put thedevice on charge.
The device's battery level is criticallylow. The device must be charged
immediately.

LED effect
Off, no lighting effectSolid red, always on
Blinking red at 1Hz

Blinking red at 10Hz

Transfer Functions
Electrocardiography (ECG) Sensor
The respiration value range = [540nH, 47uH]

𝐿𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖 [𝐻] =𝐿𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑓𝐻
1015

Where:𝐿𝑅𝐸𝑆𝑃𝐼_𝑓𝐻 – Value returned by the device in [fH]Note: Inductive straps used for measuring breathing typically have nominal inductance values when unloadedof around 2 µH to 5µH.
This nominal unloaded value changes by approximately 1% to 3% during a breathing cycle. In PLUX software,
this the 𝐿𝑅𝐸𝑆𝑃𝐼_𝑓𝐻 value is converted to a relative change around the signal baseline for an easier-to-understandmeasure compared to the absolute values in nH or uH. See the software documentation for further details.

Accelerometer
Range: [-8𝐺, 8𝐺]
𝐴𝑐𝑐(𝑔) = (𝐴𝐷𝐶 −2𝑛16) . ( 𝑛)2
2

𝐴𝑐𝑐(𝑔) – Accelerometer value in g
𝐴𝐷𝐶 – Value sampled from the channel
𝑛 – Number of bits of the channel 1

Gyroscope
Range: [-500dps, 500dps]

1 The number of bits for each channel depends on the resolution of the Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC); in

cardioBAN the default is 16-bit resolution (n=16)
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𝐺𝑦𝑟(𝑑𝑝𝑠) = (𝐴𝐷𝐶 −www.pluxbiosignals.com

2𝑛
1000).( 𝑛 )2
2

𝐺𝑦𝑟(𝑑𝑝𝑠) – Accelerometer value in degrees per second (dps)
𝐴𝐷𝐶 – Value sampled from the channel
𝑛 – Number of bits of the channel1

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Sample Signals
The following signals were recorded using respiBAN on a healthy individual under different breathing conditions.

Respiration Signals
The respiBAN’s primary respiration sensor allows you to measure different types, rhythms, and intensities of
respiratory patterns.

Normal Respiration

Figure 5: Normal respiration in respiBAN sensor data.

Respiration cycles in respiration signals are characterized by periodic peaks and valleys in the signal. Signal
increases occur during the inspiration phase of the breathing cycle and peak at the maximum inspiration point.
Signal decreases occur during the expiration phase of the breathing cycle and reach their minimum at full
expiration.
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Normal Respiration vs. Deep Respiration
Breathing intensities, such as normal vs. deep breathing, can be identified by changes in amplitudes of therespiration cycles.
The following plot shows the impact of normal breathing in breathing amplitudes against the increased
amplitudes that occur during deep breathing.

Figure 6: Normal & deep respiration in respiBAN sensor data.

Note that different breathing intensities can have other impacts on the signals that are of physiological nature.
For instance, deep breathing is generally slower than normal breahting given the increased time needed toinhale and exhale the increased volume of air. In this cases, a change in breathing rate can be expected inaddition to the amplitude changes.

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Slow Respiration vs. Fast Respiration
Respiration can be identified by changes in the invtervals of the respiration cycles.
The following plot shows the impact of different breathing rhythms on the respiration signal, where the majorchange occurs in the frequency and duration of the respiration cycles.
Fast breathing shortens the interval of each respiration cycle and increases the cycle frequency. Slow breathing
results in the contrary displaying longer intervals and reduced cycle frequency.

Figure 7: Normal vs. slow vs. fast breathing in respiBAN sensor data.

Note that different breathing frequencies can have other impacts on the signals that are of physiological nature.
For instance, fast breathing results in generally lower signal amplitudes due to less air being inhaled and exhaledduring the shorter respiration cycle. In this cases, a change in breathing amplitdude is expected in addition to
the amplitude changes.

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Apnea
Apnea is a temporary cessation of respiration. This can occur due to pathological reasons (e.g., sleep apnea,
respiratory obstructions) or artificially induced by holding the breath.
Apnea in respiBAN sensor data is generally visible by the stagnation of the signal during the apnea phase. If the
Apnea occurs at the end of an inspiration cycle, the signal remains at a (relatively) constant value near the
respiration cycle’s peak value. If the apnea occurs at the end of the expiration phase, the value signals remains
at a (relatively) constant value near the respiration cycle’s minimum value.

Figure 8: Apnea phases after inspiration and expiration in respiBAN sensor data.

In ideal setups, respiBAN sensor data stagnates at the last value at which a any stretching or relaxation of therespiration belt occurred, i.e. at the value at which any respiratory motion stopped. However, when working
with real-subjects, no ideal setup of breathing mechanics occur, as natural breathing mechanics show minor
deviations from this expected behavior.
As seen in the Figure above, an Apnea phase occurred after a deep inspiration (see Post-Inspiration Apnea), yet
the value does not plateau at the peak of the respiration signal. Instead, it shows a minor decline during the
apnea phase. This is due to the subject’s natural breathing mechanics, as the artificially induced apnea (holding
the breath) does not equal a complete block of the subject’s respiration mechanics. Due to the increased airpressure within the lungs, air partially escapes from the lungs, thus changes the volume of the thorax or
abdomen which reuslts in the minor decline of the signal.
Apnea phases are generally more stable in Post-Expiration apnea as in Post-Inspiration apnea.

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Motion Sensors
respiBAN comes with built-in triaxial Acceleromter and Gyroscope to record motion data along with yourrespiration data.

Accelerometer
The Accelerometer measures acceleration along the three axes (x, y, z). The amplitude of the signal correlateswith the acceleration that occurs along each axis.
In the following signal, this ampltiude change is visualized in the following intervals:••••

0s to 10s: No acceleration / movement
10s to 20s: Moderate acceleration / movement
20s to 30s: Intensive acceleration / movement
30s to 40s: No acceleration / movement

Figure 9: Motion data of different intensities in respiBAN Accelerometer data.

For further information about the orientation of the Accelerometer axis, see section Motion Sensor Axes &Orientation.

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Gyroscope
The Gyroscope measures angular velocity, which is the rate at which an the respiBAN rotates around the axes
(x, y, z). The amplitude of the signal correlates with the acceleration that occurs around each axis.
The following signals show the results of the Gyroscope when conducting the same motion pattern of theprevious Accelerometer sample signal.

Figure 10: Figure 7: Motion data of different angular velocities in respiBAN Gyroscope data.

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Disclaimer
PLUX products, including cardioBAN BLE products, are intended for use in life science education and research
applications; they are not medical devices nor are they intended for medical diagnosis, cure, mitigation,
treatment or prevention of disease.
We expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect, consequential, incidental or special
damages, including, without limitation, lost revenues, lost profits, losses resulting from business interruption orloss of data, regardless of the form of action or legal theory under which the liability may be asserted, even if
advised of the possibility of such damages.

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