This article reviews the clinical problem of diaphragm function in critically ill patients and describes recent advances in bedside monitoring of diaphragm function. Recent findings Diaphragm weakness, a consequence of diaphragm dysfunction and atrophy, is a common condition in the intensive care unit and is associated with serious clinical consequences. Bedside diaphragm function monitoring can now be performed by means of two approaches: diaphragm electrical activity and diaphragm ultrasound. The use of ultrasound to assess diaphragm structure (thickness, thickening) and mobility (caudal displacement) appears to be feasible and reproducible, but no large-scale "real-life" study is available. Diaphragm ultrasound can also be used to evaluate diaphragm muscle stiffness by means of shear wave elastography and strain by means of speckle tracking, both of which are correlated with diaphragm function in healthy subjects. Electrical activity of the diaphragm is correlated with diaphragm function during brief airway occlusion, but the repeatability of these measurements exhibits high within-subject variability.