Modeling and simulation of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) on ventilated patients with ARDS lungs

Bedside monitoring of lung recruitment is a key feature in the ventilatory management of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Electrical impedance tomography is a relatively new imaging technique which reconstructs the electrical conductivity distribution in a lung cross section from electrical measurements made on electrodes placed on the surface of the thorax. The induced conductivity changes can be continuously monitored to assess the topographical distribution of air in the lung and optimise the ventilation strategy. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate these principles on a physiological model of the lung mechanics simulating the concept of recruitment in ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.