Nitric Oxide Delivery System for High Frequency Ventilator Flow Compensation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Delivering therapeutic nitric oxide gas to patients using high frequency ventilators is challenging due to variations in pressure and flow, leading to inaccuracies in gas delivery and dosing.
Innovation Solution
A nitric oxide delivery system with a bi-directional or mono-directional flow sensor that measures and compensates for flow distortions, ensuring accurate delivery of nitric oxide into the inspiratory limb of a breathing circuit affiliated with high frequency ventilators, using algorithms and user input to actuate valves effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If therapeutic gas is delivered into breathing gas from a high frequency ventilator, then additional medical benefits are achieved, but accuracy of therapeutic gas delivery and dosing deteriorates due to pressure and flow variations
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a bi-directional flow sensor to continuously monitor actual therapeutic gas flow and provides feedback to the controller. The controller compares measured flow against target flow and dynamically adjusts the delivery mechanism to compensate for distortions caused by high frequency ventilator pressure variations, ensuring accurate dosing despite challenging operating conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical flow measurement methods with a bi-directional flow sensor that can accurately measure flow under high frequency pressure variations. This substitution enables reliable flow detection and control in environments where conventional mechanical systems would fail due to the oscillating pressure conditions
2Measurement precision
If a bi-directional flow sensor is used to measure forward and reverse NO flow, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bi-directional flow sensor performs multiple functions: it measures both forward and reverse therapeutic gas flow, detects high frequency oscillations, and provides data for controller algorithms. This multi-functionality justifies the increased device complexity by consolidating multiple measurement capabilities into a single integrated sensor rather than requiring separate sensors for each function
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for delivery of therapeutic gas to patients, in need thereof, receiving breathing gas from a high frequency ventilator using at least enhanced therapeutic gas (e.g., nitric oxide, NO, etc.) flow measurement. At least some of these enhanced therapeutic gas flow measurements can be used to address some surprising phenomenon that may, at times, occur when wild stream blending therapeutic gas into breathing gas a patient receives from a breathing circuit affiliated with a high frequency ventilator. Utilizing at least some of these enhanced therapeutic gas flow measurements the dose of therapeutic gas wild stream blended into breathing gas that the patient receives can at least be more accurate and/or under delivery of therapeutic gas into the breathing gas can be avoided and/or reduced.