Design and Development of a Novel Flow-through Respiratory Calorimeter
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2020
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Engineering
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en
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Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
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Abstract
Current affordable consumer health and fitness tracking devices provide calorie burn data
which is woefully inaccurate (27-93% error). Further, using current methods, data can only be
supplied for standardized, well-defined tasks such as running, biking, and walking. We have
developed an affordable device to provide accurate calorie burn data for virtually any activity.
The device utilizes novel, flow-through type portable respiratory calorimetry (FPRC) and is
worn over the nose and mouth in an aesthetic, lightweight mask. Although respiratory
calorimetry is in use today, current chamber or catch-all type devices are expensive, complex,
stationary systems. As such, their use is restricted to well-funded high-performance athletes and
in-hospital medical diagnostics. Additionally, they can only be used to evaluate a narrow set of
activities as they cannot be used in the field. The development of a low-cost, portable device that
reports accurate respiration and calorie-burn data for any activity will therefore fill a market
need. This market is highlighted (and in part created) by the recent proliferation in health and
fitness trackers such as Fitbit and AppleWatch.