Lung perfusion monitoring can provide accurate information on changes in pulmonary blood flow in critically ill patients, and thus help guide clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, due to inconveniences such as patient transport, conventional imaging techniques are unable to meet the demand for real-time monitoring of lung perfusion, more convenient and reliable real-time functional imaging techniques should be developed to optimise cardiopulmonary management in critically ill patients. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive, radiation-free, bedside functional imaging technique that can be used to assess lung perfusion in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary embolisms and other conditions, thereby assisting with the diagnosis of disease, the adjustment of treatment protocols, and the assessment of treatment outcomes. In this review, we focused on advances in EIT for lung perfusion monitoring in critically ill patients.