Assessment of Inspiratory Muscle Activation using Surface Diaphragm Mechanomyography and Crural Diaphragm Electromyography

Clinical Utility of Measuring Inspiratory Neural Drive During Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET)

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has traditionally included ventilatory and metabolic measurements alongside electrocardiographic characterization; however, research increasingly acknowledges the utility of also measuring inspiratory neural drive (IND) through its surrogate measure of diaphragmatic electromyography (EMGdi). While true IND also encompasses the activation of non-diaphragmatic respiratory muscles, the current review focuses on diaphragmatic measurements, providing information about additional inspiratory muscle groups for context where appropriate. Evaluation of IND provides mechanistic insight into the origins of dyspnea and exercise limitation across pathologies; yields valuable information reflecting the integration of diverse mechanical, chemical, locomotor, and metabolic afferent signals; and can help assess the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Further, IND measurement during the physiologic stress of exercise is uniquely poised to reveal the underpinnings of physiologic limitations masked during resting and unloaded breathing, with important information provided not only at peak exercise, but throughout exercise protocols. As our understanding of IND presentation across varying conditions continues to grow and methods for its measurement become more accessible, the translation of these principles into clinical settings is a logical next step in facilitating appropriate and nuanced management tailored to each individual's unique physiology. This review provides an overview of the current state of understanding of IND measurement during CPET: its origins, known patterns of behavior and links with dyspnea in health and major respiratory diseases, and the possibility of expanding this approach to applications beyond exercise.

Performance Evaluation of Fixed Sample Entropy in Myographic Signals for Inspiratory Muscle Activity Estimation

Fixed sample entropy (fSampEn) has been successfully applied to myographic signals for inspiratory muscle activity estimation, attenuating interference from cardiac activity. However, several values have been suggested for fSampEn parameters depending on the application, and there is no consensus standard for optimum values. This study aimed to perform a thorough evaluation of the performance of the most relevant fSampEn parameters in myographic respiratory signals, and to propose, for the first time, a set of optimal general fSampEn parameters for a proper estimation of inspiratory muscle activity. Different combinations of fSampEn parameters were used to calculate fSampEn in both non-invasive and the gold standard invasive myographic respiratory signals. All signals were recorded in a heterogeneous population of healthy subjects and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients during loaded breathing, thus allowing the performance of fSampEn to be evaluated for a variety of inspiratory muscle activation levels. The performance of fSampEn was assessed by means of the cross-covariance of fSampEn time-series and both mouth and transdiaphragmatic pressures generated by inspiratory muscles. A set of optimal general fSampEn parameters was proposed, allowing fSampEn of different subjects to be compared and contributing to improving the assessment of inspiratory muscle activity in health and disease.