Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) Monitoring in Adults With ALI or ARDS

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) monitoring has been researched as a method to determine the spatial impedance distribution in a body cross section, but has yet to become an established clinical tool. EIT monitoring gives a dynamic, breath-to-breath measurement of both global and regional ventilation. Recently, there has been evidence that EIT monitoring has great potential to become a non-invasive bedside tool for assessment of regional lung ventilation without documented hazards. Potential applications include any adult patients in acute respiratory failure. Data collected from this research may contribute to improved patient safety outcomes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study is to examine the feasibility of using the EIT monitor in intensive care unit (ICU) setting on patients with acute respiratory failure and to compare the EIT monitor data to standard of care patient assessments. It is hypothesized that the EIT monitor, when applied to adults in acute respiratory failure, will correlate with conventional standard of care assessments for these patients.