Non-invasive analysis technique contributes to a better understanding of COPD

The group collaborated with the Hospital del Mar-IMIM in Barcelona to tackle the current lack of instruments for assessing respiratory muscle activation during the breathing cycle in clinical conditions.

Working together with the hospital’s Department of Respiratory Medicine, IBEC’s Biomedical Signal Processing and Interpretation group tested respiratory muscle mechanomyography (MMG) as a way to assess the mechanical activation of the inspiratory muscles of the lower chest wall in both patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy subjects. This non-invasive method confirmed the relationship between inspiratory muscle activation characterised by a non-linear index (MLZ: multistate Lempel–Ziv) and pulmonary function parameters.

Their results suggest that respiratory muscle MMG is a good reflection of inspiratory effort, and could be used in clinical conditions to estimate the efficiency of the mechanical activation of the inspiratory muscles, contributing to a better understanding of breathing in COPD patients.

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Source article: Sarlabous L, Torres A, Fiz JA, Martínez-Llorens JM, Gea J, Jané R (2017). Inspiratory muscle activation increases with COPD severity as confirmed by non-invasive mechanomyographic analysis. PLoS ONE 12(5): e01777300