A University of Queensland (UQ) researcher has created a new way to measure breathing patterns in sleeping infants that may also work for adults. The researcher, PhD student Philip Terrill, has created a mathematical formula that measures varying breathing patterns indicating different sleep states such as active or quiet sleep.

Terrill said a band, placed around the child's chest, recorded breathing rates, which were then analyzed using the new formula based on techniques from a branch of mathematics called chaos theory. The researcher hopes his formula would form the basis of an automated sleep monitoring system that was cheaper and easier to use than current methods.

The 25-year-old from St Lucia has been working with respiratory and sleep medicine experts at the Mater Children's Hospital. His work is also part of MedTeQ, a center within UQ's School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, which links biomedical engineering expertise from UQ and Brisbane's major hospitals. The next step is to test his formula on teenagers and adults.