Electrode positioning of transcutaneous electromyography of the diaphragm in preterm infant

Monitoring the respiration of preterm infants is important in neonatal intensive care. Transcutaneous electromyography of the diaphragm (dEMG) is a feasible non-invasive, bedside cardiorespiratory monitoring tool in preterm infants to monitor respiration based on the electrical activity of the diaphragm. This method has the advantage over the currently used cardiorespiratory monitoring technique, chest impedance, that it is able to provide information on the neural breathing effort. Before transcutaneous EMG of the diaphragm can be implemented in the NICU as clinical monitoring tool, one of the requirements is the positioning of the electrodes on different locations on the chest of the infant whereby signal quality remains comparable. The feasibility to measure the electrical activity of the diaphragm by means of dEMG at different positions of electrode placement in preterm infants needs to be established.