Diaphragm pacing (DP) is an efficient treatment to artificially restore respiratory function. Commercialized systems do not embed any respiratory monitoring function and cannot adapt patients' electro-ventilation needs. To increase the performance and safety of these systems, in this study, an acoustic respiratory monitoring method based on a microphone is investigated. This method also captures stimulation signal so that it could generate an alarm for stimulation failure or an apnea. This could also help to optimize stimulation configurations individually for each patient. We have recorded the tracheal sound of one patient with tetraplegia implanted with a stimulator. Promising preliminary results are a first step towards the validation of the proposed monitoring algorithm of breathing events under phrenic nerve stimulation.
