Hemodynamic management of critically ill patients is a constant challenge in the intensive care unit (ICU). Commonly used monitoring parameters to guide hemodynamic management generally consist of measurements of pressures (systemic and pulmonary artery pressures, cardiac filling pressures) and flow (cardiac output measurements using a thermodilution method). However, cardiac filling pressures and flow data have known limitations and might not accurately represent cardiac preload and contractility. To date, continuous or sequential recording of hemodynamic parameters is limited to pulse pressure variation measurement and indicator dilution techniques. The overall accuracy of these methods is not well established and comparisons of measurements of cardiac function parameters have been reported to trend differently in response to therapy and show limited interdevice agreement. Hemodynamic management of critically ill patients based on these parameters might therefore not be optimal and delay stabilisation of the patient, leading to negative outcomes and increased use of resources.