Emergency Ventilator
Emergency Ventilator: Pneumatic Breath Delivery System
Solution: An Ambu-Bag or other deformable 1000ml object which is controlled via a pneumatic air cylinder. The cylinder is controlled by two solenoid valves that apply pressure/vacuum from conventional compressors as needed to control delivered pressure and volume. Feed back is provided by pressure and flow sensors in the deformable bag.
Progress So far
A prototype was constructed and tested on a human sized mannequin. The system delivers required volume and pressure. It also allows for immediate manual backup in the event of component failure by removing the Ambu-bag, a widely used manual airway delivery device. The major moving components are taken from Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump technology (The PI, WJO) has had many years experience): Compressor/Pressure regulation, solenoid valves and a pneumatic air cylinder. These are really a minimal design and have been proven to last more than 25xE6 cycles. A microcontroller is used to operate the system.
Manufacturable Design
The proposed device will meet all of the rfp criterion. The current prototype meets many of those as it now is constructed. These include:
Readily manufacturable materials and parts
Accommodate standard hoses and fittings
Tidal volume of 50 to 1000 mL
Adjustable inspiratory to expiratory time ratio
Provides Positive End Expiratory Pressure (PEEP)
Able to use ambient air, or low pressure oxygen
Able to operate off generator power sources
The remaining requirements are easily added to the design
Team Members
Prof. Bill Ohley
University of RI
Dr. Greg Jay
RI Hospital / Brown University
Doug Stern
Fulcrum Product Development
Dr. Kunal Mankodiya
University of RI
Instructions (evolving) for Constructing a basic version of this system are at this link: