Abstract
Monitoring pulmonary oedema would be greatly facilitated by the availability of a graphical representation of its size and density to guide therapeutic interventions. Currently the clinician has only indirect estimations because X-ray imaging or computed tomography can not be repeated often. To avoid the transfer of critically ill patients and to have continuous information Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is suggested. Circuit designs for EIT are reviewed, including wave generators, current sources, differential amplifiers, synchronous voltmeters, multiplexers and control modules. Nine designs are studied, the characteristics of five of them are presented (UK 2005, Uruguay 2002, Iran 2006, China 2007 and Switzerland 2012). Three different solutions are compared (components cost range from) and an optimal design is proposed which includes a direct digital synthesizer (DDS) for signal generation, a modified Howland configuration for current source, 16 bits for the analog to digital conversion, and a digital signal processor (DSP) for the synchronous demodulation as well as to process the measurements for the reconstruction algorithm. This allows us to design low cost, gross graphical representations for oedema extent monitoring, with little anatomical accuracy.
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