Reliable Operation in Difficult Conditions

ndd continues the cooperation with Dr. Andreas Fahlman in order to measure lung function in marine mammals \| PFT - Spirometry · 2 min read

ndd continues the cooperation with Dr. Andreas Fahlman in order to measure lung function in marine mammals at the Oceanogràfic in Valencia. In cooperation with the company g&o embedded systems, a special flow sensor was developed for these animals. The prototype uses 4 active ultrasonic flow sensors. With this setup, peak flow rates of dolphins reaching 80 l/s were successfully measured.
The graph below shows the flow/volume loop of a dolphin (blue line) compared to that of a human (red line). In a next step, the system will be further developed in order to measure flows in even larger animals (e.g., Beluga whales) reaching flow rates of up to 200 l/s, which is more than ten times the flow measured in human athletes. Thanks to the fast response time, the robustness, and the calibration-free operation of ndd’s flow sensor this will be the first time that such flow rates can be accurately measured in these animals.