NO Delivery Apparatus With Automatic Dose-Based Alarm Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing NO delivery systems face challenges in accurately setting and recalculating alarm thresholds for nitric oxide (NO) doses, particularly for low doses below 10 ppmv, leading to potential patient safety risks due to fluctuations and false alarms.
Innovation Solution
An NO delivery apparatus with microprocessor-controlled NO dose adjustment and automatic recalibration of alarm thresholds, ensuring a tolerance of ±20% for high and low NO content, minimizing errors and false alarms by instantly recalculating thresholds based on the set NO dose.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual setting of alarm thresholds is used, then flexibility in threshold selection is improved, but error risk and false alarms increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically calculates and sets alarm thresholds based on the prescribed NO dose without requiring manual intervention. The microprocessor computes high and low thresholds (e.g., ±20% around the prescribed dose) and updates them automatically when the dose changes, eliminating human calculation errors while maintaining appropriate threshold flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the actual NO dose delivered and compares it against the automatically calculated thresholds. When the delivered dose deviates beyond the thresholds, alarms are triggered to alert operators, creating a closed-loop feedback system that ensures dosing accuracy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual recalculation of alarm thresholds is required, then adaptability to dose changes is improved, but time consumption and error risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates alarm thresholds automatically whenever the NO dose is prescribed or modified. This preliminary action ensures that thresholds are always current and accurate without requiring operators to perform time-consuming recalculation, maintaining adaptability while eliminating time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The microprocessor automatically detects dose changes and triggers recalculation of alarm thresholds without operator intervention. This self-service mechanism ensures continuous adaptability to dose changes while eliminating the time and effort required for manual threshold adjustment.
3Device complexity
If fixed alarm thresholds are used, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision and patient safety decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The alarm thresholds are dynamic rather than fixed, automatically adjusting based on the prescribed NO dose. The microprocessor calculates thresholds as a function of the prescribed dose (e.g., ±20%), allowing the monitoring system to adapt its precision requirements to the specific clinical situation while maintaining appropriate safety margins.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the alarm threshold parameters automatically based on the prescribed dose. When the dose is modified, the thresholds are recalculated with the same relative tolerance (e.g., ±20%), maintaining consistent measurement precision across different dose levels without requiring complex fixed threshold configurations.
4Device complexity
If alarm thresholds are not automatically updated, then device complexity is reduced, but false alarms and patient safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system proactively updates alarm thresholds whenever the NO dose is changed, before any potential dosing error can occur. This preliminary update prevents false alarms that would result from using outdated thresholds while maintaining relatively simple device architecture through automated microprocessor control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where dose modifications automatically trigger threshold recalculation and update. This ensures that the alarm system continuously operates with appropriate thresholds matched to the current prescribed dose, eliminating false alarms without requiring complex manual update procedures.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for delivering a gas containing NO comprising NO dose adjustment means (50, 51) for enabling a first dose of NO to be adjusted, and microprocessor (211) control means (210) for determining, from the first dose of NO adjusted, first high and low alarm thresholds corresponding to first maximum and minimum NO contents. NO dose modification means enable the first dose of NO to be modified to obtain a second dose of NO different from the first dose of NO. The control means are configured to automatically determine, from the second dose of NO, second high and low NO alarm thresholds different from the first high and low NO alarm thresholds.