Objective Pulmonary Function (PF) evaluation for respiratory fatigue is vital to the diagnosis and management of many pediatric respiratory diseases in the intensive care, emergency and outpatient settings. A non-invasive PF instrument utilizes sensors and software to access respiratory breathing patterns, vital parameters, asynchrony and measures the work of breathing. Software algorithms predict respiratory fatigue. The hardware includes a microcircuit board that individually links to rib cage (RC) and abdominal (ABD) inductance bands. The bands wirelessly transmit changes in RC and ABD circumference. Point-of-care, real-time indices of respiratory work, breathing patterns and respiratory fatigue indices are developed on a user-friendly graphical user interface. The diagnostic data can later be securely emailed as an attachment for entry into patients' electronic medical records or sent to a caretaker's computer, or used directly to control a respiratory therapy device. The system can also be used for telemedicine homecare.