Diagnosis of lung related diseases by assessing vibration patterns of structures at the thoracic cavity

This paper aims to investigate the vibration measurements of the human chest wall of non-smokers, cigarette smokers, and electrical cigarette smokers in conducting human health diagnosis. Measurements were taken from 6 non-smokers, 5 cigarette smokers, and 5 electrical cigarette smokers using an accelerometer, a Data Acquisition (DAQ) hardware, a LabVIEW software for collecting data and a Matlab software for spectral analysis. The accelerometer was secured directly below the left nipple of chest wall. Time-domain signals were then converted into frequency-domain through spectral analyses, which include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis and Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis. Based on the FFT spectrum results, 90% of smokers show Amax values of less than 1 x 10^-5 G², whereas 50% of non-smokers show Amax values of more than 1 x 10^-5 G². The PSD graphs show 100% of non-smokers show no noticeable frequency contents above 14 Hz, whereas 80% of smokers show noticeable frequency contents after this point. There is definitely a correlation between smokers and other respiratory diseases in terms of chest wall intensity and frequency of vibration using spectral analyses.