Abstract: A pulmonary ventilation system comprising a method to determine at least one pulmonary ventilation parameter as a function of a plurality of measured anatomical distances and volume-motion coefficients, sensors for acquiring the anatomical distances, a device for determining the plurality of motion coefficients, and a device for determining the ventilation parameter based on the acquired anatomical distances and determined plurality of volume-motion coefficients. In one embodiment, the system further includes a method for acquiring base-line ventilation characteristics and a method for correlating the base-line ventilation characteristics to the ventilation parameter determined with the empirical relationship.