呼吸是人體重要機轉，吸吐模式、深淺、頻率為氣體交換的重要因素，間接影響自律神經、心搏率、心輸出量、血壓等反應。臨床顯示，異常呼吸中止、雜音與疾病息息相關；而利用慢、深、或腹式等自主呼吸能活化副交感神經，達到身心放鬆。因此，呼吸韻律監控、胸腹腔運動效率評估、心肺耦合現象觀察，進而智慧照護、增進體能等應用皆為生醫工程發展重點。本文從呼吸生理機轉，比較不同量測部位、特質、裝置與其臨床應用之優劣，對呼吸量測與應用有連串性瞭解。

Human breathing plays an important role on the mechanism of gas exchange. The difference of breathing type, inhaling depth, or respiratory rate are the key factors which affect the autonomic nervous system, heart rate, cardiac output, blood pressure, and other reactions. The sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other functional respiratory disorders cause clinical evidences on breathing. And the use of slow, deep, and abdominal breathing can activate the parasympathetic nerve system to relax. Therefore, monitoring respiratory function, evaluating thoracoabdominal movement performance, investigating the cardiopulmonary coupling on the smart care and physical fi tness enhancement become the development focus in Biomedical Engineering. This paper introduces the respiratory principle, different measurement methods and devices as well as compares the characteristics of the measuring devices and the clinical applications.