  Breathing is vital to life. Therefore, the real-time monitoring of breathing
pattern of a patient is crucial to respiratory rehabilitation therapies such as
magnetic resonance exams for respiratory-triggered imaging, chronic pulmonary
disease treatment, and synchronized functional electrical stimulation. While
numerous respiratory devices have been developed, they are often in direct
contact with a patient, which can yield inaccurate or limited data. In this
study, we developed a novel, non-invasive, and contactless magnetic sensing
platform that can precisely monitor breathing, movement, or sleep patterns of a
patient, thus providing efficient monitoring at a clinic or home. A magneto-LC
resonance (MLCR) sensor converts the magnetic oscillations generated by
breathing of the patient into an impedance spectrum, which allows for a deep
analysis of breath variation to identify respiratory-related diseases like
COVID-19. Owing to its ultrahigh sensitivity, the MLCR sensor yields a distinct
breathing pattern for each patient tested. The sensor also provides an accurate
measure of the strength of breath at multiple stages as well as anomalous
variations in respiratory rate and amplitude. This suggests that the MLCR
sensor can detect symptoms of COVID-19 in a patient due to shortness of breath
or difficulty breathing as well as track the progress of the disease in real
time.
