When a person breathes, air doesn't flow in a steady stream but in waves. Previously, doctors and scientists only looked at overall numbers: how much air entered per breath, what the peak flow was. But within a single breath, there are nuances — small variations that speak to the workings of nerves and muscles. The new approach breaks a breath into parts, much like a musician breaks a chord into individual notes.

The authors devised three wave shapes: half a sine wave, a bell curve, and a curve with a gradual rise. The computer fits these waves so that their sum accurately replicates the actual airflow. On 8,276 breaths, the error was minuscule — less than one-thousandth. Even when noise is added to the measurements, the method remains reliable.

This decomposition of breathing into simple waves is like reading a musical score instead of listening to the whole piece. Doctors will be able to monitor how the brain controls breathing more precisely and spot disruptions earlier.