Non-invasive patient breathing effort identification: a b-spline and mixed integer solution

Accurate identification of patient breathing efforts is imperative to the delivery of lung and diaphragm protective ventilation. Existing model-based approaches constrain the allowable shape of the patient effort pressure-time profile to improve model identifiability. A novel method - coined the B-MIQP technique - is presented that extends upon existing methods with aims to further improve identification accuracy. B-spline basis functions and binary decision variables are utilised within a single compartment framework to describe the patient effort pressure-time profile. With reference to the experimental results, identified elastance and resistance values were within expected ranges, while identified patient effort outcomes matched physiological expectations and reflected trends when compared to esophageal pressure signals.