Breathing Gas Flow Compensation for Continuous Therapeutic Dosing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing therapeutic gas delivery systems face disruptions in breathing gas flow measurement, leading to potential interruptions and inaccuracies in delivering gases like nitric oxide, which can impact patient safety and treatment efficacy.
Innovation Solution
The system utilizes historical breathing gas flow rate data, such as moving averages and waveforms, to compensate for disruptions by controlling therapeutic gas delivery, ensuring continuous and accurate dosing even when real-time measurements are unavailable or unreliable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If real-time breathing gas flow rate measurement is used to control therapeutic gas delivery, then delivery accuracy is improved, but system reliability deteriorates due to sensor disruptions and measurement failures
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores historical breathing gas flow rate data in advance before disruptions occur. This preliminary data storage enables the controller to switch to historical data when real-time measurements fail, ensuring continuous therapeutic gas delivery without interruption during sensor disruptions or measurement failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller acts as an intermediary between real-time flow sensors and therapeutic gas delivery control. It monitors the reliability of real-time measurements and selectively switches between real-time data and historical data based on detected disruptions, thereby mediating the conflict between measurement accuracy and system reliability.
2Reliability
If historical breathing gas flow rate data is used to compensate for disruptions, then system reliability is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to reliance on outdated information
Solution Approach 1:
The controller continuously monitors the quality and availability of real-time breathing gas flow rate measurements. When disruptions are detected, it provides feedback by switching to historical data mode, and when real-time measurements become reliable again, it switches back. This feedback mechanism ensures optimal balance between using current accurate data and fallback historical data for maintaining system reliability.
3Reliability
If proportional delivery of nitric oxide to breathing gas is implemented, then therapeutic efficacy is improved, but system complexity increases due to need for accurate flow measurement and control
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses its own stored historical flow rate data to maintain proportional nitric oxide delivery when external real-time measurements are unavailable. This self-service capability allows the system to sustain accurate proportional delivery without requiring complex external measurement systems, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining therapeutic reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for delivery of therapeutic gas to patients, using techniques to compensate for disruptions in breathing gas flow measurement, such as when breathing gas flow measurement is unavailable or unreliable. Such techniques include using historical breathing gas flow rate data, such as moving average flow rates, moving median flow rates and/or flow waveforms. At least some of these techniques can be used to ensure that interruption in therapeutic gas delivery is minimized or eliminated.