● Educational capnography is about using carbon dioxide (CO₂) monitoring instrumentation for learning breathing behavior that results in good respiration.

● CapnoLearning™ is about evaluating, training, and learning breathing behavior for good respiration based on carbon dioxide (CO₂) self-regulation.

● The CapnoTrainer® is a combination hardware-software instrumentation system for “live” displaying and recording of exhaled partial pressure carbon dioxide (PCO₂) and heart rate variability (HRV) data for evaluating and teaching breathing behavior.

● The Capno-8™ Group Instructional System includes nine CapnoTrainers® for simultaneously teaching and learning CO₂ self-regulation with up to 8 people at a time.

Breathing for Good Respiration

● Carbon dioxide is precious, not poisonous. It regulates basic body chemistry including: acid-base physiology (pH), electrolyte balance, hemoglobin chemistry, blood flow, brain biochemistry, muscle activity, cardiac function, and kidney physiology.

● Proper CO₂ allocation is vital to health and performance, physical and mental. At rest, only about 15 percent of the CO₂ passing through the lungs need be excreted. The other 85 percent is essential to proper moment to moment regulation of body chemistry.

● Hypocapnia is a CO₂ deficit which, as a result of learned overbreathing, can trigger, exacerbate, perpetuate, or cause a wide variety of emotional (anxiety, anger), cognitive (attention, learning), behavioral (public speaking, test taking), and physical (pain, asthma) changes that may seriously impact health and performance.

● Learned overbreathing behavior results in hypocapnia. Hypocapnia is either the result of (1) chemical considerations, i.e., bicarbonate deficits arising from metabolic acidosis (e.g., lactic acid), or (2) learned overbreathing behavior motivated and reinforced by life experiences, such as fear reduction and emotional dissociation.

● Behavioral hypocapnia, resulting from learned overbreathing, is subject to the same principles of learning as any other behavior, including motivation, emotion, attention, perception, and memory. Ten to 25 percent of the US population suffers with the serious but unrecognized effects of learned hypocapnia.

● Debilitating symptoms and deficits triggered by overbreathing are rarely addressed, typically go “unexplained,” are mistakenly attributed to other causes, and are often managed with prescriptive medications. Sixty percent of ambulance runs are a direct consequence of symptoms precipitated by behavioral hypocapnia.

● Most breathing programs fail to address respiration and are rooted in misinformation, misconceptions, pseudoscience prescriptions, and ignorance about the physiology and psychology of breathing. Breathing mechanics may look letter-perfect, but respiration and acid-base regulation poorly or not addressed at all.

● CapnoLearning® is based on textbook science, pulmonary and acid-base physiology. It is the application of the principles of behavioral analysis, behavior modification, awareness training, biofeedback, and cognitive learning to breathing behavior. CapnoLearning® is “client-centered” behavioral solution rather than a “therapist-centered” treatment of misunderstood breathing mediated symptoms and deficits.

● Practical solutions include: (1) determining whether or not behavioral hypocapnia is present, (2) identifying the symptoms and deficits triggered by hypocapnia, (3) discovering specific learning factors that regulate breathing behavior resulting in hypocapnia (overbreathing), and (4) finding and implementing behavioral (learning) solutions to dysfunctional breathing.

Immense Markets, Diverse Applications

● rehabilitation (e.g., physical therapy, pain management)

● traditional healthcare (e.g., asthma)

● education, learning, attention (e.g., attention deficit)

● fitness/sports (e.g., endurance, muscle fatigue, attention, anxiety)

● performance training (e.g., public speaking, test anxiety, aviation)

● corporate coaching and consulting (e.g., stress management)

● meditation and yoga (e.g., breathing practices)

● anger, anxiety, panic (e.g., mental health)

● relationships and communications (e.g., couples counseling)

● patient education (e.g., hypertension and migraine)

● pregnancy (Most pregnant women, in fact, overbreathe.)

● peak performance (e.g., golf)

Basic Instrument: The CapnoTrainer®

An educational instrument for learning optimal breathing

The display signals include: the PCO₂ "raw waveform” (continuous measurement throughout the breathing cycle), End Tidal PCO₂ (ETCO₂, peak values on the exhale), breathing rate, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and historical averages for each of these. The raw data of all types of signals can be saved, session by session, for subsequent review in assorted formats. The hardware components are illustrated below:

Group Instructional System: The Capno-8™

A group training system for learning optimal breathing

The Capno-8™ consists of 9 CapnoTrainers (the ninth one for backup and individual work), a two-year warranty that includes damage and misuse, software that displays and records physiology in real time for up to eight clients simultaneously, software for individual work, and a CapnoLearning® Manual. Certification in CapnoLearning by Behavioral Physiology Institute is recommended.

Hubs (wired or wireless) link together 8 CapnoTrainers that transmit their data to a on a single laptop computer, which projects the physiology of up to 8 learners on to a single large screen for all to see with an overhead projector. Hubs are purchased separately.

Display screens present physiology for 2, 4, 6, and 8 learners at a time. There are screens for individual work and for clients working in pairs (e.g., couples). There are also screens for doing group work with heart rate variability (HRV), that is, for management of autonomic hyperarousal in conjunction with breathing. Recorded data can be observed and printed out for each client separately.

Using the Capno-8™ with four learners

ECONOMICS: INCOME POTENTIAL

Business decision makers and entrepreneurial practitioners know that efficacious and relevant client services must go hand-in-hand with good business economics. The Capno-8 meets these criteria: (1) evidence-based applications (2) relevancy to large audiences, and (3) conservative financial projections that offer high income and growth potential. There are at least three ways to earn income:

(1) Group Breathing Behavior Evaluations are provided for up to eight clients at a time, based on practitioner-guided client self-discovery protocols. During evaluations clients learn whether or not their breathing behavior is dysfunctional, and if so, what symptoms and deficits it may be mediating. Based on their discoveries, they sign up for Optimal Breathing Classes. A typical evaluation fee is $100.00 per session, i.e., $800.00 per evaluation session for the provider. Monthly and annual gross income might be as follows:

● 4 group evaluations (1 hr), 4/month: $3,200 X 12 = $38,400.00

● 6 group evaluations (1 hr), 6/month: $4,800 X 12 = $57,600.00

● 8 group evaluations (1 hr), 8/month: $6,400 X 12 = $76,800.00

(2) Optimal Breathing Classes are provided by a Certified Practitioner for up to eight clients at a time, where they learn to implement the fundamentals of CapnoLearning®. A typical class might be $600.00 for an 8-hour class ($75.00/hour), offered in 2-hour blocks once a week for four weeks, i.e., $4,800.00 per class for the provider. Monthly and annual gross income might be as follows:

● 1 class (8 hours) per month: $4,800 X 12 = $57,600.00

● 2 classes (16 hours) per month: $9,600 X 12 = 115,200.00

● 4 classes (32 hours) per month: $19,200 X 12 = $230,400.00

(3) CapnoTrainer® Rentals Services are an important option for Capno-8™ learners, one that increases both efficacy and profitability. Renting an instrument for home use, including self-evaluation and learning, is the key to ultimate success, especially for people with chronic dysfunctional breathing. Rental is usually by the week ($200.00), with a break for 4 weeks or more ($600.00), the length of a class. Annual gross income might be as follows:

● 4 rentals/class X 1 class/month: 4 X 600 X 12 = $28,800.00

● 4 rentals/class X 2 classes/month: 8 X 600 X 12 = $57,600.00

● 4 rentals/class X 4 classes/month: 16 X 600 X 12 = $115,200.00

Annual income might look as follows:

Group Breathing Behavior Evaluations, 8/month: $$76,800.00

Optimal Breathing Classes, 4/month: $230,400.00

CapnoTrainer® Rental Services, 4 rentals/class: $115,200.00

Total annual income: $422,400.00 (less expenses)