Patient examinations using electrical impedance tomography--sources of interference in the intensive care unit.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is expected to become a valuable tool for monitoring mechanically ventilated patients due to its ability to continuously assess regional lung ventilation and aeration. Several sources of interference with EIT examinations exist in intensive care units (ICU). Our objectives are to demonstrate how some medical nursing and monitoring devices interfere with EIT measurements and modify the EIT scans and waveforms, which approaches can be applied to minimize these effects and how possible misinterpretation can be avoided.

A new technique for bedside placement of enteral feeding tubes: a prospective cohort study.

Introduction: To accomplish early enteral feeding in the critically ill patient a new transnasal endoscopic approach to the placement of postpyloric feeding tubes by intensive care physicians was evaluated.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study in 27 critically ill patients subjected to transnasal endoscopy and intubation of the pylorus. Attending intensive care physicians were trained in the handling of the new endoscope for transnasal gastroenteroscopy for two days.

Body and head position effects on regional lung ventilation in infants: An electrical impedance tomography study.

Objective: To determine the effects of body and head positions on the spatial distribution of ventilation in nonintubated spontaneously breathing and mechanically ventilated infants using electrical impedance tomography (EIT).

Design And Setting: Prospective study in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Patients: Ten spontaneously breathing (gestational age 38 weeks, postnatal age 13 days) and ten mechanically ventilated infants (gestational age 35 weeks, postnatal age 58 days).

Acoustic phenomena and valve dysfunction in cardiac prostheses: data acquisition and collection via the Internet.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The study aim was to investigate whether: (i) by detection of changing acoustic sound phenomena, minimal changes in prosthetic valve function may be detected earlier than with echocardiography, invasive diagnosis or clinically; (ii) patients can record and pass on signals with a high level of reproducibility from any location via the Internet; and (iii) clinical data evaluation permits conclusions to be drawn on changes in the functional state of a prosthetic replacement valve.

Methods: Simulation studies were carried out using a mock circulation device. Aortic valve replacement (AVR) using extracorporeal circulation was performed in pigs, valve function was artificially disturbed, and valve sounds were recorded.