New lung therapy may help ventilated patients recover faster

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age ≥ 18 years; 2. Meeting the diagnostic criteria for pulmonary infection, defined as follows: meeting the diagnostic criteria for hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) or ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) according to the Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Adults (2018 edition), or meeting the diagnostic criteria for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) according to the Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults (2016 edition); 3. Oxygenation index (PaO₂/FiO₂) ≤ 300; 4. Currently receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, with no planned liberation from invasive mechanical ventilation within the next 24 hours; 5. Receiving analgesia and sedation; 6. Written informed consent provided by the patient's family member or legally authorized representative. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Presence of severe hemodynamic instability (norepinephrine dose \> 0.5 μg/kg/min); 2. Markedly elevated intracranial pressure (\> 25 mmHg) or a condition requiring strict intracranial pressure control; 3. Severe pulmonary bullae, untreated tension pneumothorax or undrained mediastinal emphysema; 4. Unstable chest wall, flail chest, recent thoracic or airway surgery, or severe thoracic spine injury; 5. Active massive hemoptysis; 6. Severe bronchospasm or inability to tolerate fluctuations in airway pressure; 7. Inability to place the EIT chest belt, such as open thoracic surgical wounds or skin lesions at the belt placement site; 8. Receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO); 9. Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as the primary reason for the current episode of invasive mechanical ventilation; 10. Expected death within 24 hours, or a decision already made to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment; 11. Pregnancy or breastfeeding; 12. Concurrent participation in another clinical trial.