Assessing pulmonary function in ALS using electrical impedance tomography

We sought to determine whether thoracic electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could characterize pulmonary function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, including those with facial weakness. Thoracic EIT is a noninvasive, technology in which a multi-electrode belt is placed across the chest, producing real-time impedance imaging of the chest during breathing.

We enrolled 32 ALS patients and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) without underlying lung disease. All participants had EIT measurements performed simultaneously with standard pulmonary function tests (PFTs), including slow and forced vital capacity (SVC and FVC) in upright and supine positions and maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures (MIPs and MEPs, respectively). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to assess the immediate reproducibility of EIT measurements and Pearson's correlations were used to explore the relationships between EIT and PFT values.

Data from 30 ALS patients and 27 HCs were analyzed. Immediate upright SVC reproducibility was very high (ICC 0.98). Correlations were generally strongest between EIT and spirometry measures, with R values ranging from 0.64 to 0.82 (p < 0.001) in the ALS cohort. There were less robust correlations between EIT values and both MIPs and MEPs in the ALS patients, with R values ranging from 0.33 to 0.44. There was no significant difference for patients with and without facial weakness. There were no reported adverse events.

EIT-based pulmonary measures hold the promise of providing an alternative approach for lung function assessment in ALS patients. Based on these early results, further development and study of this technology are warranted.