TY - JOUR T1 - Assessing respiratory function depends on mechanical characteristics of balloon catheters JF - Respiratory Care DO - 10.4187/respcare.02974 SP - respcare.02974 AU - Stephan Walterspacher AU - Lilli Isaak AU - Josef Guttmann AU - Hans-Joachim Kabitz AU - Stefan Schumann Y1 - 2013/12/31 UR - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/12/31/respcare.02974.abstract N2 - Respiratory muscle function as well as lung and chest wall mechanics are reliably assessed by esophageal and gastric balloon catheters. This in-vitro benchmark study aimed at assessing the mechanical properties of commercially available balloon catheters using an experimental model with three defined compliances (27, 54, 90 mL/cmH2O). Six catheters were investigated in four conditions: a) balloon pressure during initial inflation; b) static pressure measurements at different filling volumes; c) estimation of set compliances in the experimental lung model at different levels of superimposed pressure; d) elastic balloon properties following 16 hours of inflation. 5/6 catheters showed initial pressure artifacts resulting from material adhesion. All static pressure measurements could be performed with an error <1cmH2O. Balloon-overfilling resulted in larger errors in 4/6 catheters. Compliance determined from pressure measurements via the catheters differed <5% from that determined from direct pressure measurements. 16 hours of inflation resulted in a broader working range, i.e. overfilling effects occurred at higher filling volumes. Reliability of pressure measurements and estimation of the lung model's compliance in the tested catheters are high. Filling volume appears critical for precise pressure measurement and compliance estimation. At first use, adhesion of the balloon material might prevent from reliable pressure measurement. ER -