High-Flow Oxygen Ventilator Pressure Control Through Valve Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ventilators for high-flow oxygen therapy struggle with maintaining a safe pressure level within the airways of patients, leading to potential health risks due to excessive pressure and leakage, which is not effectively managed by current systems.
Innovation Solution
A ventilator equipped with a sensor device, actuatable valves, and a control unit that monitors and regulates pressure within the tube system to prevent exceeding a predefined maximum pressure, ensuring a consistent gas flow and patient safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If a spring-loaded valve is used to release excess gas when pressure limit is reached, then pressure control is achieved, but the gas flow is interrupted and therapy duration is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the spring-loaded mechanical valve with an electrically actuatable valve that is controlled by a control unit. This substitution allows for automated pressure regulation without manual intervention, enabling the valve to remain closed during therapy and only open when pressure exceeds the predefined limit, thus maintaining continuous gas flow and uninterrupted therapy duration while still achieving pressure control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a sensor device that continuously monitors pressure or flow parameters and provides feedback to the control unit. The control unit processes this feedback and automatically actuates the valve when pressure exceeds the predefined limit. This closed-loop feedback system ensures pressure control is maintained without interrupting the therapy, as the valve responds dynamically to real-time pressure conditions rather than passively releasing gas at fixed intervals.
2Ease of operation
If the patient interface does not seal the airways, then comfort and ease of operation are improved, but pressure control and reliability deteriorate due to unmanaged leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor device continuously monitors pressure or flow parameters and provides feedback to the control unit, which compensates for leakage by adjusting valve actuation timing and duration. This feedback mechanism maintains reliable pressure control despite the open patient interface, allowing the interface to remain comfortable and non-restrictive while ensuring pressure safety through automated regulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit dynamically adjusts valve actuation parameters (timing, duration, degree of opening) based on real-time sensor feedback to compensate for variable leakage conditions. This parameter adjustment maintains effective pressure control while allowing the patient interface to remain open and comfortable, adapting the system's behavior to the actual leakage conditions rather than requiring a fixed sealed interface.
Data Source
AI summary
A ventilator (100) ventilates a patient (102) by a high-flow oxygen therapy via a tube system (104). The ventilator has at least one sensor element (110), at least one actuatable inhalation valve or exhalation valve (120) and a control unit (130). The sensor element is arranged and configured to determine and to output a measured variable (112) within the tube system. The measured variable indicates a gas flow within the tube system. The actuatable inhalation valve or exhalation valve is arranged and configured to make possible a flow of a breathing gas from a ventilation circuit (107) of the ventilator. The control unit regulates a ventilation pressure provided by the ventilator via the at least one sensor element and the at least one inhalation valve or exhalation valve such that a predefined maximum pressure is not exceeded in a predefined area (140) of the tube system.