What’s new in electrical impedance tomography

Excerpt

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a dynamic, non-invasive, radiation-free, bedside lung imaging technique. Based on the application of alternate microcurrents spinning at 20–50 Hz along a set of electrodes (16 or 32, depending on the system) positioned around the patient’s thorax, EIT allows continuous tomographic mapping of the changes in regional gas content inside the chest. This technique provides several relevant physiologic measures, including regional tidal volume, heterogeneity of ventilation distribution, gravitational distribution of respiratory system compliance, as well as pulmonary perfusion, cardiac output, and central intravascular volume status. We present here the most recent advances at the crossroad between physiologic understanding and clinical applications. …