Remote Monitoring of Breathing Rate using UAV mounted FLIR in Medical Search and Rescue
Principal Investigator: Karissa Tilbury, UMaine Dept. of Chemical and Bioengineering
Partners: Robert Bowie & Vinal Applebee, Down East Emergency Medicine Institute
Abstract: Medical search and rescue needs in the state of Maine will continue to increase and further tax local medical service as adventurous tourist continue to test their own physical limits. Forging a partnership with Down East Emergency Medical Institute (DEEMI), a Maine volunteer search and rescue organization with a history of being at the forefront of medical search and rescue (SAR), and the University of Maine Bioengineering Department establishes a positive feedback loop for the two partners. DEEMI supplies pertinent real-life problems and the desire to constantly push the technological boundaries via requesting new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sensors to track a patient’s medical state immediately after they have been located, rather than needing to wait hours for the arrival of first responders. In this proposal, we plan to explore the use of thermal imaging to monitor breathing rate, one of the earliest indicators of physiological distress. Thermal imaging is already used in SAR operations; however, this would be the first time, thermal imaging is used to provide a remote monitoring of a patient’s vital signs allowing first responders and more advanced medical personnel to be involved immediately and provide additional medical response via a flight of UAVs and medical pods, ultimately improving survivorship.