Estimation of ventilatory thresholds during exercise using respiratory wearable sensors

Abstract

Ventilatory thresholds (VTs) are key physiological parameters to evaluate physical performance and determine aerobic and anaerobic transitions during exercise. Current assessment of these parameters requires ergospirometry, limiting the evaluation to laboratory or clinical settings. In this work, we introduce a wearable respiratory system that continuously tracks breathing during exercise and estimates VTs during ramp–tests. We validate the respiratory rate and VTs predictions in 17 healthy adults using ergospirometry analysis. In addition, we use the wearable system to evaluate the VTs in 107 recreational athletes through ramp tests outside the laboratory and show that the mean population values agree with previous studies in large groups. We envision that respiratory wearables can be useful in determining aerobic and anaerobic parameters outside clinical setting with promising applications in health telemonitoring and human performance.