Abstract
This study was conducted for analyzing differences of breathing patterns ; rest breathing, costal breathing and abdominal breathing. METHODS : 18 healthy subjects (9 male and 9 female) were required to perform the three types of breathing. A three-dimension motion analyzing system (VICON370) was used for measuring the motion of the breathings. 32 infrared reflective markers were attached to the anterior and the posterior parts of the subjects' trunk. These markers divided the trunk into nine segments which were classified into three levels ; the upper thorax, the lower thorax and the abdomen. The volume of each segment was calculated from the markers' coordinates. The ratios of the three types of breathing to deep breathing in terms of the tidal volume were compared with each other. RESULTS : 1) In costal breathing, the motion of the upper thorax increased in both male and female compared with rest breathing. The female's motion of the lower thorax was bigger in costal breathing than that in rest breathing, although the abdominal motion of costal breathing was bigger than that of rest breathing in male. 2) In abdominal breathing, the motion of the abdomen increased in both male and female compared with the abdominal motion in rest breathing. However, in case of female, the upper thoracic motion in abdominal breathing was bigger than the motion of the same part in rest breathing. 3) It was significant that the female's motion of the upper and lower thorax in costal breathing was bigger than the same motion in the abdominal breathings. CONCLUSION : There were significant differences between male and female in terms of the expansion of each part of the chest wall in these breathing patterns.
