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Electrical Impedance Tomography in Nonintubated Patients: Advancing Validation and Defining Clinical Value
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Electrical Impedance Tomography in Nonintubated Patients: Advancing Validation and Defining Clinical Value

Brian J Ring and Peter E Morris
Respiratory care, Vol.online ahead of print
06/18/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/19433654261454941
PMID: 42312675
Web of Science ID: WOS:001796578800001

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Abstract

adjunct tools ventilation Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) Clinical Sociology Respiratory System
There is increasing emphasis on precision medicine in contemporary critical care as an effort to tailor interventions to individual-specific signals, including physiology, phenotype, and disease biology. However, respiratory care remains anchored to syndromic frameworks that are inherently broad with respect to education, management, and intervention, particularly in conditions such as ARDS. In this context, there is renewed interest in adjunct tools, such as electrical impedance tomography (EIT), to guide therapy beyond conventional monitoring approaches.1 A key term in this discussion is “renewed.” Aligning with Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence, time is essentially a flat circle concerning physiology-based innovation in respiratory care; trends emerge, disappear, and then reemerge. The reintroduction of transpulmonary pressure monitoring as a method to guide PEEP titration is a notable example of this pattern. EIT appears to follow a similar trajectory, with early work dating back several decades now reemerging alongside modern computational and imaging capabilities.2,3 The question is not whether EIT is novel, but whether it will ultimately achieve sustained clinical relevance. In this issue of Respiratory Care, Morais and colleagues revisit this question through a validation study of EIT in nonintubated, spontaneously breathing subjects. This population has been largely underrepresented in prior validation studies, which have predominantly focused on mechanically ventilated patients. Their work provides an important step toward expanding the potential application of EIT beyond the intensive care unit.

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