Application of Electrical Impedance Tomography Technology in Critical Respiratory Rehabilitation

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a technology widely used in respiratory management of critical patients that enables noninvasive, real-time, dynamic and radiation-free lung ventilation monitoring at the bedside. This study encompasses the fundamental physical, mathematical and medical principles of EIT, alongside its commonly utilized clinical monitoring functionalities, applications in the rehabilitation of critical respiratory diseases, and the shortcomings and prospects of EIT, in order to provide references for the application of EIT in clinical rehabilitation. The key clinical monitoring functionalities of EIT predominantly entail lung ventilation monitoring, encompassing both spatial and temporal parameters, as well as perfusion distribution monitoring. In the context of critical respiratory disease rehabilitation, EIT finds applications in early rehabilitation activity safety assessment, guiding the formulation of respiratory rehabilitation plans, and dynamically assessing rehabilitation effectiveness. This includes providing precise guidance for lung recruitment, airway clearance therapy, respiratory muscle training, individualized ventilation settings, and evaluating the effects of respiratory rehabilitation interventions. Limitations in the application of EIT for critical respiratory diseases rehabilitation primarily include insufficient image stability and signal reconstruction affecting monitoring effectiveness, alongside the lack of consensus on personalized adjustment of EIT settings, the necessity for further validation of effectiveness and safety, and the absence of standards and norms in parameter interpretation and examination reporting. Future efforts should prioritize optimizing EIT technology, advancing data fusion techniques and establishing international standards and guidelines for its utilization to achieve personalized and refined management throughout the entire critical care rehabilitation process based on EIT.