Author’s response to reviews Title: Acceleration sensors in abdominal wall position as a non-invasive approach to detect early breathing alterations induced by intolerance of increased airway resistance Authors:

Title: Acceleration sensors in abdominal wall position as a non-invasive approach to detect early breathing alterations induced by intolerance of increased airway resistance Authors: Thomas Breuer ([email protected]) Christian Bruells ([email protected]) Rolf Rossaint ([email protected]) Henning Steffen ([email protected]) Catherine Disselhorst-Klug ([email protected]) Michael Czaplik ([email protected]) Norbert Zoremba ([email protected]) Version: 1 Date: 02 Oct 2017 Author’s response to reviews: Reviewer reports: Reviewer #1: In the present feasibility study Thomas Breuer and colleagues evaluated thoracic and abdominal wall acceleration sensors with the aim to detect respiratory alterations due to increased respiratory workload in healthy volunteers. As a main result, acceleration decreased in abdominal wall position in 15 volunteers with intolerance of increased respiratory workload in comparison to 14 volunteers without intolerance of increased respiratory workload. The authors hypothesized that acceleration measurement could potentially be used to detect respiratory failure prior to clinical impairment in weaning patients.