EIT during mechanical ventilation: a standardized innovative workflow

Popularity of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) monitoring is increasing as is the only non-invasive and real-time bedside lung imaging technique that can visualize regional lung mechanics and the distribution of ventilation. Hence, clinicians can monitor the patient’s respiratory response to different mechanical ventilator settings, therapies, or clinical evolution, allowing a more personalized mechanical ventilation approach. EIT provides a wealth of valuable information, but there is a remaining uncertainty regarding which EIT parameter to use for which clinical scenario, and how to interpret findings in the context of the critically ill and throughout the course of mechanical ventilation. As a consequence, evidence of EIT-guided ventilation strategies leading to better outcomes is still in its infancy. Important barriers are challenges with EIT acquisition, data processing and validation of analyses.

In this Lorentz workshop week, we will bring together max. 25 international EIT users from various groups and backgrounds (clinical, research and engineering). We aim to create support and provide consensus on how to best utilize, process/analyze and interpret EIT within a personalized mechanical ventilation strategy. This will be achieved by increasing knowledge on the current state-of-the-art, processing and analysis, clinical needs and challenges, and (future) novel applications. The meeting will be interactive through brainstorm sessions, interdisciplinary lectures and open discussions, hands-on EIT processing and analysis, and small-group writing sessions.

The masterclass is part of a grant that was awarded by the Dutch Research Council and the Netherlands eScience Center. With this grant, the organizing team is currently developing an open-source software-based workflow for standardized processing and analysis of EIT data (https://research-software-directory.org/projects/alive). This will be a great step forward in fully exploiting the benefits of EIT in research and clinical practice and promoting new collaborations and standardization.