EIT Respirator System for Atelectasis Detection and Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Postoperative patients often develop atelectasis leading to postoperative hypoxemia and respiratory failure, necessitating early detection and management to prevent complications such as endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation.
Innovation Solution
A process combining electric impedance tomography (EIT) with a computing unit and a respirator to detect and quantify atelectasis by comparing pre-anesthesia and post-anesthesia lung ventilation images, adjusting respirator pressure stepwise to restore initial lung status, and monitoring impedance changes to ensure effective ventilation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If EIT system is used to detect and quantify atelectasis, then early detection capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines EIT system, computing unit, and respirator into an integrated system where the EIT detection module, image processing module, and respirator control module work together as a unified whole, allowing early detection of atelectasis while maintaining coordinated control to manage system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The computing unit acts as an intermediary between the EIT system and the respirator, processing status images and determining atelectasis parameters before sending control signals, thereby bridging the detection and treatment functions while managing system complexity
2Reliability
If respiration pressure is increased step by step to eliminate atelectasis, then ventilation effectiveness is improved, but risk of lung damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The respirator dynamically adjusts respiration pressure in stepwise increments based on real-time EIT feedback, increasing pressure only when atelectasis is detected and reducing it when normal ventilation is restored, making the pressure application adaptive rather than static
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses EIT status images as feedback to monitor lung ventilation in real-time, comparing current status with reference status to determine whether atelectasis persists, and uses this feedback to control when to increase or decrease respiration pressure, preventing excessive pressure application
3Measurement precision
If continuous monitoring of lung status is performed, then early detection of atelectasis is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs EIT measurements and status image acquisitions at periodic intervals rather than continuously, with the computing unit processing images at defined measurement points during the respiratory cycle, reducing energy consumption while maintaining effective monitoring capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the patient's own respiratory movements and impedance changes as the driving force for measurement, requiring minimal external energy input beyond the EIT current, and automatically detects atelectasis based on natural physiological variations
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables early detection and minimization of atelectasis, improving lung ventilation during and after surgical procedures, reducing the need for mechanical ventilation and associated complications.
Implementation Method 1
Electric impedance tomography (EIT) is a process, which is known per se, in which the electric impedance between the feed point and the test point can be calculated by feeding an alternating electric current of, e.g., 5 mAeff at 50 kHz into any electrically conductive body, here preferably into the human body, and measuring the surface potentials resulting therefrom at different points of the body.
Implementation Method 2
The information on the presence, the extent and/or the distribution in space of atelectases is sent by the EIT system to the respirator so that the respiration pressure is increased step by step by means of the respirator as a function of the status image or the currently determined status images
Data Source
AI summary
An electro-impedance tomography (EIT) system (2), with a computing unit (4) and a respirator (1) is described for gentle mechanical lung ventilation especially in case of atelectases. The presence, the extent and/or the spatial distribution of atelectases is detected by the EIT system (2) and sent to the respirator (1) so that the respiration pressure is increased step by step by the respirator (1) until the current image of the lung status corresponds to a first status image of healthy lungs or comes close to it with minimal deviations. The respiration pressure is subsequently reduced again step by step by the respirator (1) until the computing unit (4) detects a reduction of the ventilated lung areas and the respiration pressure is subsequently increased again by means of the respirator (1) to the last value at which no change occurred in the ventilated lung areas.