Monitoring diaphragmatic response to phrenic nerve stimulation

A non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium having recorded thereon a computer program comprising instructions for performing a computer-implemented method for monitoring diaphragmatic response to phrenic nerve stimulation, comprising:

• receiving in real-time a diaphragmatic compound motor action potential (CMAP) signal of a human patient;
• computing a baseline value of a characteristic of the CMAP signal, the characteristic representing a diaphragmatic response intensity to phrenic nerve stimulation;
• determining a threshold value of the characteristic, the threshold value representing a boundary of values of the characteristic indicative of upcoming diaphragmatic palsy, the determining of the threshold value including shifting the baseline value;
• repeating in real-time:
• monitoring the CMAP signal;
• computing a real-time value of the characteristic, the real-time value of the characteristic being asynchronous to a QRS complex of the human patient, the real-time value of the characteristic being computed on portions of the CMAP signal each corresponding to a time interval corresponding to the diaphragmatic response to phrenic nerve stimulation but not overlapping any time interval corresponding to a QRS complex occurrence;
• comparing the real-time value to the threshold value;
• and
• outputting an alert when the threshold is passed.

A device including a control unit comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the memory having recorded thereon a computer-implemented method for monitoring diaphragmatic response to phrenic nerve stimulation, comprising:

• receiving in real-time a diaphragmatic compound motor action potential (CMAP) signal of a human patient;
• computing a baseline value of a characteristic of the CMAP signal, the characteristic representing a diaphragmatic response intensity to phrenic nerve stimulation;
• determining a threshold value of the characteristic, the threshold value representing a boundary of values of the characteristic indicative of upcoming diaphragmatic palsy, the determining of the threshold value including shifting the baseline value;
• repeating in real-time:
• monitoring the CMAP signal;
• computing a real-time value of the characteristic, the real-time value of the characteristic being asynchronous to a QRS complex of the human patient, the real-time value of the characteristic being computed on portions of the CMAP signal each corresponding to a time interval corresponding to diaphragmatic response to phrenic nerve stimulation but not overlapping any time interval corresponding to a QRS complex occurrence;
• comparing the real-time value to the threshold value;
• and
• outputting an alert when the threshold is passed.