Validity and Reliability of Ultrasonography for the Objective Assessment of Diaphragm Function in Healthy Adults

The diaphragm is the major inspiratory muscle in humans. Making accurate assessment of diaphragmatic function a key component of monitoring and assessing respiratory health. Presently, the gold-standard clinical assessment of diaphragmatic function involves measuring the pressure difference across the diaphragm using dual balloon-tipped catheters. While this technique is direct, accurate and reliable, it is also expensive, invasive and not suitable for all patient populations. Recently, the use of ultrasonography to measure muscle tissue stress and strain during contraction has emerged as a powerful and effective tool to non-invasively assess cardiac function. Similar techniques have been proposed and piloted in the assessment of diaphragm function, but have not been validated with current gold standards. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to introduce a novel method of evaluating the contractile properties of the human diaphragm in healthy, young adults. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Christopher West

Student:

Partner:

Brunel University of London

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Other

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: