Every year, thousands of children in intensive care units across the United States are put on mechanical ventilation to help them breathe. But while this technology has saved countless lives, it can also cause or worsen lung injury.

“A child’s injured lungs don’t often inflate uniformly under ventilation,” says Gerhard Wolf, a critical care doctor in Children’s Hospital Boston’s Department of Anesthesia. “So one part of the lung may be nearly collapsed while another is overinflated. We need to be able to see that so we don’t cause further damage.” …