System for capturing respiratory effort of a patient

An apparatus for capturing the electrical behavior of a living body during respiration and/or ventilation, wherein the apparatus comprises ventilation elements, elements for capturing an impedance of the living body, and at least one control unit, the impedance being captured using at least two electrically conductive electrodes, which capture the electrical behavior of the living body, the elements for capturing the impedance being configured to capture a change in the impedance of the living body over time during respiration and/or ventilation, the ventilation elements being configured to stipulate respiratory gas volumes for inspiration and expiration, the at least one control unit, at least intermittently, evaluating information items about the impedance and information items about the respiration and/or ventilation, a first ventilation setting being stipulated for at least one instance of respiration and/or ventilation and, in the process, a first impedance variation being ascertained and, subsequently, a second ventilation setting being stipulated for at least one instance of respiration and/or ventilation and, in the process, a second impedance variation being ascertained and at least the first and the second impedance variations being compared to one another and a recommendation for a ventilation setting that causes the highest impedance variation being stored or output for a user of a ventilator or there being an automatic selection and application of this ventilation setting.