Method and a system for detecting a respiratory event of a subject and a method for forming a model for detecting a respiratory event

1. A method for detecting a respiratory event of a subject, said method comprising:

receiving a bio-impedance measurement signal from the subject, said bio-impedance measurement signal being dependent on respiratory action of the subject;

extracting at least one time-sequence of the bio-impedance measurement signal; and

for each of the extracted time-sequences:

by means of a processing unit, comparing the bio-impedance measurement signal with each of a plurality of machine learning models in an ensemble of machine learning models so as to form a set of predictions of occurrence of a respiratory event, wherein each prediction in the set is based on comparing the bio-impedance measurement signal with one machine learning model, wherein each model correlates features of time-sequences of a bio-impedance measurement signal with presence of a respiratory event in the time-sequences of the bio-impedance measurement signal and wherein each model is trained on a unique data set of training time-sequences; and

determining whether a respiratory event occurred in the extracted time-sequence based on the set of predictions.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the bio-impedance measurement signal is compared with each of a plurality of machine learning models in an ensemble of machine learning models formed by neural networks with Long-Short Term Memory, LSTM, cells analyzing the unique data sets of training time-sequences.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the bio-impedance measurement signal is compared with each of a plurality of machine learning models in an ensemble of machine learning models formed by training each model on a unique data set that has been formed by balanced bootstrapping of acquired training time-sequences to combine positive time-sequences including a respiratory event, re-used between different data sets, with negative time-sequences not including a respiratory event, wherein at least a plurality of the negative time-sequences are disjoint between different data sets.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data set of training time-sequences have been acquired from the subject for whom respiratory events are detected.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising receiving an additional measurement signal;

extracting at least one time-sequence of the additional measurement signal, wherein the at least one time-sequence of the additional measurement signal corresponds to a simultaneous time period with the at least one time-sequence of the bio-impedance measurement signal; and

for each of the extracted time-sequences:

comparing the bio-impedance measurement signal and the additional measurement signal with each of a plurality of machine learning models in an ensemble of machine learning models so as to form predictions being included in the set of predictions of occurrence of a respiratory event.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pre-processing the received bio-impedance measurement signal.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the extracting of at least one time-sequence of the bio-impedance measurement signal comprises extracting a plurality of sequential time-sequences of the bio-impedance measurement signal.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising determining a measure of respiratory condition of the subject based on comparing a number of time-sequences, for which a decision that a respiratory event occurred has been taken, to a relevant duration period of the bio-impedance measurement signal.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the comparing of the bio-impedance measurement signal with each of a plurality of machine learning models determines a plurality of sets of predictions for occurrences of different respiratory events, and wherein said determining whether a respiratory event occurred is performed for each set of predictions, wherein the method further comprising outputting a prediction of occurrence of a respiratory even.

10. A method for forming a model for detecting a respiratory event of a subject, said method comprising:

receiving bio-impedance measurement signals from one or more subjects, said bio-impedance measurement signal being dependent on respiratory action of the subject;

extracting a plurality of training time-sequences of the bio-impedance measurement signals;

receiving information of occurrences of respiratory events, which information is synchronized with the plurality of training time-sequences so as to classify the training time-sequences as positive time-sequences representing a respiratory event or negative time-sequences not representing a respiratory event;

determining a plurality of machine learning models to form an ensemble of machine learning models, wherein each model correlates features of time-sequences of a bio-impedance measurement signal with presence of a respiratory event in the time-sequences of the bio-impedance measurement signal and wherein each model is trained on a unique data set of the plurality of training time-sequences.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the determining of the plurality of machine learning models comprises using neural networks with Long-Short Term Memory, LSTM, cells for extracting a correlation of features of training time-sequences to presence of a respiratory event in the training time-sequences.

12. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising forming unique data sets to be used in training the plurality of machine learning models, wherein the forming of unique data sets comprises balanced bootstrapping of acquired training time-sequences to combine positive time-sequences including a respiratory event, re-used between different data sets, with negative time-sequences not including a respiratory event, wherein at least a plurality of the negative time-sequences are disjoint between different data sets.

13. A system for detecting a respiratory event of a subject under test, said system comprising:

a bio-impedance measurement sensor for acquiring a bio-impedance measurement signal from the subject, said bio-impedance measurement signal being dependent on respiratory action of the subject; and

a processing unit which is configured to:

receive the bio-impedance measurement signal;

extract at least one time-sequence of the bio-impedance measurement signal; and

for each of the extracted time-sequences:

compare the bio-impedance measurement signal with each of a plurality of machine learning models in an ensemble of machine learning models so as to form a set of predictions of occurrence of a respiratory event, wherein each prediction in the set is based on comparing the bio-impedance measurement signal with one machine learning model, wherein each model correlates features of time-sequences of a bio-impedance measurement signal with presence of a respiratory event in the time-sequences of the bio-impedance measurement signal and wherein each model is trained on a unique data set of training time-sequences; and

determine whether a respiratory event occurred in the extracted time-sequence based on the set of predictions.

14. The system according to claim 13 , further comprising a housing, wherein the bio-impedance measurement sensor and the processing unit are arranged in the housing.

15. The system according to claim 13 , further comprising a housing, wherein the bio-impedance measurement sensor is arranged in the housing, wherein the system further comprises a communication unit arranged in the housing, wherein the communication unit is configured to transmit the bio-impedance measurement signal to the processing unit.