title: Optoelectronic plethysmography: a review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Optoelectronic plethysmography (OEP) is an innovative method of indirect measurement of pulmonary ventilation, capable of breath-by-breath, three-dimensional, real time assessment of absolute lung volumes and their variations in the three compartments of the chest wall (pulmonary rib cage, abdominal rib cage, and abdomen). OEP allows the measurement of variables of breathing pattern, breathing asynchrony, and contribution of each chest wall compartment and hemithorax to the tidal volume.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To review the literature on the following aspects related to OEP: history, operating principle, advantages, psychometric properties, variables, and method of system analysis, highlighting information about its handling. In a second part, the objective is to analyze the applicability of OEP in different health conditions/situations such as: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; acute effects of exercise, pulmonary rehabilitation, breathing exercise, and lung transplantation), asthma, patients in intensive care, neuromuscular diseases, and stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search was performed in MedLine, SciELO and Lilacs with the term "optoelectronic plethysmography". Forty-three papers were included.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the literature reviewed, OEP has been shown to be an assessment tool that can provide information about ventilatory parameters in healthy subjects and subjects with various dysfunctions in different positions, situations, and settings. The main results of studies on OEP in COPD are shown, representing the largest body of knowledge to date. The results of studies on OEP in other health conditions are also shown.
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, School of Physical Education, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy , Univeridade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. veronicaparreira@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Verônica F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Parreira
authors.forename: Danielle S R
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Mariana A C
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Myrrha
authors.forename: Isabela M B S
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Pessoa
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lage
authors.forename: Raquel R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Britto
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010991:Plethysmography; D012119:Respiration; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics