Chest wall motion in neonates utilizing respiratory inductive plethysmography

After calibration, respiratory inductive plethysmography can accurately measure breathing patterns noninvasively by transmitting ribcage and abdomen compartment changes caused by ventilation through oscillator circuitry. We measured the breathing pattern of nine quietly awake healthy newborn infants and assessed components reflecting asynchrony, paradoxic motion, and overall phasic relations between ribcage and abdomen compartments. Breathing pattern data (mean +/- SD) on 136 total tidal volume (Vt) breaths revealed: Vt, 14.4 +/- 3.40 ml; frequency, 52.1 +/- 11.5 beats/min; ribcage contribution to Vt, 32.2% +/- 13.4%; maximum compartmental amplitude/Vt, 1.01 +/- 0.01; phase angle, 13.2 +/- 9.50 degrees; inspiratory asynchrony index, 0.26 +/- 0.20 ml2/ml; expiratory asynchrony index, 0.42 +/- 0.3 ml2/ml; and average asynchrony index, 0.34 +/- 0.20 ml2/ml. Results demonstrated a high degree of synchrony between ribcage and abdomen movement during quietly awake breathing. Outward motion of the abdomen preceded that of the ribcage for almost every measured breath.