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Pressure signal transmission of five commercially available oesophageal balloon catheters
1Zentrum Anaesthesiologie, Rettungs- und Intensivmedizin, George-August Universität Göttingen, Germany. hbusche@gwdg.de
Objective:
Five commercially available oesophageal balloon catheters (OBCs) were tested to evaluate the accuracy in transmitting fast-changing pressure signals which can be observed, for example, during phrenic nerve stimulation.
Setting:
Research laboratory of a university hospital.
Method:
The OBCs tested varied in length (900-1390 mm) and inner diameter (0.9-1.5 mm) as well as in balloon material [latex or polyvinylchloride (PVC)]. A 180-cm tube served as a control. A sudden pressure drop was generated by the explosion of a pressurized latex balloon. The time between the pressure drop and 75, 50, 25 and 10% of the maximal pressure was measured.
Results:
The time intervals required to transduce a pressure drop of 90% varied between the different OBCs from 85 to 476 ms (control 32 ms). Transmission time was lower in OBCs with a larger inner diameter. Shortening the OBCs resulted in a further decrease in transmission time.
Conclusion:
The type of OBC used has an impact on signal processing. An OBCs with a short transmission time should be chosen, especially if fast pressure changes are to be evaluated such as during phrenic nerve stimulation.