Electroventilation

Abstract

Electroventilation is a term used to describe the production of inspiration by applying rhythmic bursts of short duration stimuli to extrathoracic electrodes to stimulate motor nerves to the inspiratory muscles. In the dog, the optimum site for the electrodes was found to be on the upper chest wall, bilaterally. The inspired volume increased with increasing current intensity. The maximum tidal volume attainable was about four times resting tidal volume. The ability of electroventilation to maintain arterial blood oxygen saturation without the production of cardiac arrhythmias was demonstrated in pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs. The technique has several potential applications and offers promise in emergency and critical-care medicine.