Patent ID: 7740588

Claim:
A respiratory and heart rate sensor for a mammal comprising: a flexible support having a surface adapted to be positioned over the skin of a mammal; a pair of inductive coil or capacitive plate elements attached to the support surface, each inductive coil or capacitive plate element being spaced apart from a next inductive coil or capacitive plate element, the inductive coil or capacitive plate elements being capable of sensing respiratory movement of the mammal in a direction perpendicular to the support surface by relative movement toward and away from each other in the perpendicular direction, without stretching or elongation, and producing an output signal proportional thereto; a light-emitting element attached to the flexible support capable of emitting light radiation through the skin and through capillaries beneath the skin; and at least two light-detecting elements attached to the flexible support and spaced apart from the light-emitting element, each light-detecting element capable of independently sensing light radiation reflected through the skin and capillaries from the light-emitting element and producing an output signal proportional thereto.