Why stick tubes in people with ALS and other motor neurone diseases when you can use the equivalent of a pacemaker to cause the diaphragm to contract? The problem is with the nerves – the muscle still works fine (until it starts to waste for lack of innervation, anyway). For that matter, why don’t ventilators in general attempt to use the natural machinery of the body? I would think making use of the body itself would always be preferable to using an artificial alternative.