Monitoring of pulmonary embolism using electrical impedance tomography: A case study

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) offers a non-invasive, radiation free, bedside alternative to conventional medical imaging systems. Studies have shown that monitoring of pulmonary perfusion or detection of pulmonary embolism (PE) could be a field of use for this technology in the future. The aim of this case study is to evaluate the possibilities of PE detection with PulmoVista 500, a commercial EIT system designed for monitoring of pulmonary ventilation distribution. Mechanically ventilated animal model was created with its vital signs monitored. PE was induced artificially six times by blood clots injection. Significant changes in the waveforms of relative impedance were observed four times. The analysis of the EIT data acquired during the whole experiment suggests that PulmoVista 500 is capable to detect the resulting impedance changes and roughly localize them. However, the detection of less significant perfusion defects seems to be unreliable and thus require performing of additional studies.