Daily health management of farmed animals is an important task in the livestock industry, but it is necessary to avoid excessive contact between humans and animals as much as possible as a measure against zoonotic diseases.Until now, contact-type measuring devices have been put into practical use, but the wearing of the device itself is stressful for animals, and if anesthesia is required during the wearing, there is a risk of death from anesthesia.

　Therefore, the research group aimed to apply millimeter-wave radar technology, which has been developed for humans in previous research, to animals other than humans.Measurements were taken from a distance of about 1.5m with the horse resting (in a standing position).In order to confirm the measurement accuracy of the millimeter-wave radar, we measured the snout temperature by infrared thermography at the same time as the millimeter-wave radar.

　As a result, the error between measurement by millimeter wave radar and measurement by infrared thermography was about 240 to 1 times in 2 seconds.In addition, accurate measurement was possible not only when breathing was stable, but also when breathing was intense.

　Millimeter-wave radar technology is a highly versatile measurement technology because body surface movements due to respiration are observed in many mammals.In addition, the frequency band of the radar used has been approved for use in many countries, and the technology can be used overseas.In the future, we plan to expand the target animal species, simultaneously measure multiple animals, improve the technology for measuring heart rate in addition to respiratory rate, and aim to apply it to the entire livestock industry.

Paper information:[The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science] Non-contact respiratory measurement in a horse in standing position using millimeter-wave array radar