Electrical Impedance Tomography Use in Neonatal and Pediatrics Patients: A Narrative Review

Electrical impedance tomography(EIT) is a Noninvasive, non-radiative, bedside imaging and monitoring tool, which has been developed for more than 40 years. With EIT used in monitoring regional lung ventilation and perfusion for many years, it is not only a new research tool different from X-ray, CT, or ultrasound, but it also more easily provides instructions in all aspects of treatment for clinicians. Nowadays, the EIT has been used in thousands of studies in adults. EIT offers more potential significance and value in pediatric patients. As a result, we provide an overview of the data that support the clinical use of EIT in pediatric and neonatal patients (as of 2024) in this review, putting a focus on appropriate application and outlining potential future paths.

As of June 2024, we identified using the following MeSH terms: EIT, infants, neonates, pediatrics, and children. The database search encompassed PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, and we took into account only English-language papers.

EIT provides valuable insights into lung function and ventilation/perfusion distribution, particularly for detecting pneumothorax. This technology allows clinicians to identify regional ventilation disparities and dynamically optimize ventilator settings, thereby enhancing mechanical ventilation strategies.

EIT has the potential to become a ubiquitous imaging modality, however, large-scale, multicenter investigations are essential to evaluate its clinical efficacy in critically ill pediatric patients.