Detection of patient-ventilator asynchrony should be improved: and then what?

Invasive mechanical ventilation often saves the lives of patients suffering from acute respiratory distress. Placement and maintenance of an endotracheal airway usually requires sedation and analgesia, which generally results in cessation of spontaneous breathing and the need for controlled mechanical ventilation. Today, modern intensive care medicine concepts aim at early reduction of the level of sedation (1) to promote spontaneous breathing efforts (2,3) and early mobilization (4), in order to avoid negative effects of deep and prolonged sedation and (respiratory) muscle weakness (5). Epidemiological data suggest an increase in the use of partial ventilator support modes (6)