Global and regional lung function assessment using portable electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system: clinical...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Spirometry is the gold standard for lung function assessment but lacks spatial information.
• Previous studies showed portable electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could predict spirometry indicators in healthy subjects.
• A need exists to validate EIT's diagnostic capabilities in diverse lung disease populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the capability of a portable EIT system for lung function assessment in patients with various lung diseases.
• To evaluate the correlation between EIT-derived indicators and spirometry measurements.
• To assess the potential of EIT for diagnostic screening and regional lung function analysis.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 88 participants: 47 lung disease patients (interstitial lung disease, asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, etc.) and 41 healthy controls.
• Performed simultaneous measurements using the portable EIT system and standard spirometry.
• Analyzed both global spirometry indicators and regional EIT data.

Main Results:

• Significant correlation (p<0.0001) was found between EIT-predicted global spirometry indicators and actual spirometry values.
• The EIT system demonstrated significant ability to distinguish between most lung disease groups and healthy subjects.
• Regional EIT mapping revealed distinct patterns for different lung disease groups, offering additional diagnostic insights.

Conclusions:

• The portable EIT system is a viable tool for predicting global lung function indicators and aids in the diagnostic screening of lung diseases.
• EIT provides valuable regional lung function information, complementing spirometry for enhanced diagnosis and patient monitoring.
• This study establishes the clinical relevance of EIT-based indicators for assessing lung function in patients with lung diseases.