CRADL PROJECT

Each year 15 million babies are born prematurely and many suffer from respiratory failure due to immaturity of the lung and lack of control of breathing... Although respiratory support, especially mechanical ventilation, can improve their survival, it also causes severe injury to the vulnerable lung resulting in severe and chronic pulmonary morbidity lasting in to adulthood. Heterogeneity of lung aeration, resulting in areas of lung over inflation and lung collapse, plays a crucial part in the risk of mortality and morbidity due to respiratory failure... This distribution of lung aeration cannot be detected by currently available bedside monitoring tools and imaging methods. Thus, an imaging technique for continuous non-invasive bedside monitoring of infants lung function is urgently needed. In order to address this, CRADL will use EIT technology to establish a monitoring tool for interventions in the paediatric population.