Electromyography and Acceleromyography in Ventilated ICU Patients

The following neuromuscular transmission monitors will be used in the study: an electromyography-based monitor (TetraGraph, Senzime AB, Uppsala, Sweden) and two devices that are the newer generation of quantitative monitoring using three-dimensional acceleromyographic technology: Stimpod (Xavant Technology, Pretoria, South Africa) and TofScan (IDmed, Marseilles, France), both of which require minimal setup for use. The stimulation pattern of both ulnar and facial nerves will be train-of-four (TOF) delivered every 1 minute, and the mean of three consecutive measurements will be calculated as the TOF% for that patient. Patients will be tested every 24 hrs, once a day, at the same time, over the 72 hrs the study will take place in the ICU.