In a new paper published in Scientific Reports, researchers from the University of Oxford and King's College London, developed and tested a new sensor that could improve how hospital staff monitor patient breath rates and stability by effectively measuring arterial oxygen levels.

These new insights support better understanding of how our lungs function and could potentially support bespoke ventilation care for patients (humans and animals) in intensive care units, and for people with diseased lungs in general. These results will form the basis of future studies that will look more intensively at models of lung disease. Over time the research stream will identify other ways that respiratory behaviour can be better monitored and patient care can be improved in hospitals in the process.