Introducing a respiratory phantom device with the ability of recording electrical impedance tomography: a step towards the real-time intelligent monitoring of lung aeration

This study introduces a respiration simulating phantom device which is designed, built and evaluated experimentally. The device, as a mechanical-electrical simulator of the respiratory process, is used for studying and real-time monitoring of the local aerations during the respiratory-simulating behavior of the phantom, by adopting the Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) technique. This work serves as a proof of concept for automatically and intelligently select the ventilator settings and choose the treatment strategies optimally, in order to reach better patient specific treatments. The device’s physical appearance and structure resemble a chest cage and consist of a plastic chamber with an elliptical cross-sectional shape filled with normal saline and a movable compliant wall, eleven pairs of movable curved plastic pieces (simulating ribcage), air balloons (simulating lungs), connecting tubes and specialized valves for air intake from the ventilator, a movable base with adjustable height for positioning EIT electrodes around the cage, and electronic circuits for EIT recording. Experimental results support the applicability of the phantom.