Anestéziológia a intenzívna medicína 2/2019
Electrical impedance tomography and its principles
The authors explain the basic principles of electrical impedance tomography (EIT), its history and current theoretical foundations. They analyze its potential applications during mechanical lung ventilation during various pathologies affecting the lung. The first practical experience explains some of the diagnostic and optimization capabilities of the EIT. The authors applied the EIT in the situations like ventilatory imaging and lung perfusion imaging (e.g. pulmonary embolism diagnosis, atelectasis, identification of inhomogeneous ventilation, assessing the adequacy of mechanical lung ventilation (PEEP, tidal volume (VT), circuit pressure (Paw), over-distension, lung collapse, etc.). Changes in lung tissue composition (e.g. bronchopneumonia, ARDS, etc.) and detection of air in pleural space (e.g. pneumothorax) is another advantage of EIT. In conclusion, authors evaluate the EIT as an excellent method for optimizing mechanical lung ventilation as well as extending diagnostic capabilities using non-invasive imaging techniques, without the need for radiation and patient transport.
Keywords: electrical impedance tomography, optimization of mechanical ventilation
