Design and Evaluation of a Portable Emergency Ventilator with a New Titration Method

Mechanical ventilation is considered to be effective treatment in various emergency incidents to help patients breathe normally and emit carbon dioxide. However, mechanical ventilation is always replaced by bag-valve-mask ventilation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, pre-hospital care and temporary ventilation therapy. In order to release hands and improve ventilation quality, a portable emergency ventilation with two ventilation modes was designed. A commercial ventilator (ResMed stellar 150 portable ventilator) and a prototype ventilator were connected to a Michigan A13 test-lung to compare their performances. A new titration method was proposed for the volume controlled intermittent positive pressure ventilation mode using a relationship between pulse width modulation and a flow parament. The designed ventilator could provide precise control in inspiratory time, expiratory time and peak inspiratory pressure in comparative experiment. The new method reduced the titration time in emergency ventilation and suggested a new method to research the relationship between mechanical parameters of lung and flow paraments.