Comparing Different Delivery Systems of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Neonates

Across centers, there is a variation in standard of care for the preferred device and interface to deliver continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to support neonatal functional residual capacity. CPAP, a type of noninvasive respiratory support, is commonly delivered to neonates by mechanical ventilators or underwater bubble devices (bubble CPAP). Variation also exists with the tubing used to deliver CPAP. One commonly used nasal interface is the RAM cannula (Neotech, Valencia, CA), made of a soft material with thin tubing walls and is designed to provide 60-80% occlusion of the nares. This contrasts with the occlusive interface intended to provide complete seal. To provide evidence for standardization of CPAP delivery, clinical trials are needed to assess which modality of CPAP delivery is optimal for neonates with respiratory distress syndrome who are \> 32 weeks and \<37 weeks gestational age, an understudied population. The investigators propose to use electrical impedance tomography (EIT) paired with esophageal balloon manometry to assess neonatal lung physiology when supported with different modalities of CPAP. Furthermore, participants will be randomly assigned to A) physiology based CPAP vs B) one size fits all approach. The subjects will remain on the assigned modality of CPAP for the remainder of their respiratory distress syndrome treatment, and researchers will track which modality of CPAP results in a shorter CPAP treatment period and if this is expected based on the lung physiology data collected.