In vivo measurements of structure/electrode position changes during respiration for Electrical Impedance Tomography

For pulmonary applications of EIT systems, the electrodes are placed around the chest in a 2D ring, and the images are reconstructed based on the assumptions that the object is rigid and the measured resistivity change in EIT images is only caused by the actual resistivity change of tissue. Structural changes are rarely considered. Previous studies have shown that structural changes which result in tissue/organ and electrode position change tend to introduce artifacts to EIT images of the thorax. Since EIT reconstruction is an ill-posed inverse problem, any inaccurate assumptions of object may cause large artifacts in reconstructed images. Accurate information on structure/electrode position changes is necessary to understand factors contributing to the measured resistivity changes and to improve EIT reconstruction algorithm. In this study, in vivo structure/electrode position changes from a healthy male volunteer are investigated during respiration cycle at two levels, the nipple line level and the level approximately 5 cm below. For each level, sixteen fiduciary markers are equally spaced around the surface, the same as the electrode placement for EIT measurements. A MR scanner with respiration-gated ability is used to acquire images of the thorax. MR thoracic images are prospectively acquired corresponding temporally to specific time periods within respiration cycle (FRC, mid tidal volume, tidal volume). The chest expansions in anterior-posterior and lateral directions and inside tissue/organ position changes are then analyzed. The electrode position changes corresponding to different phases of respiration cycle are also measured.