Ventilator Phase Detection via Pneumatic and EMG Signal Merging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ventilator machines face challenges in accurately detecting the transition between inspiration and expiration phases, especially in neonates and COPD patients, due to interference in electromyographic signals, leading to incorrect synchrony and increased breathing effort.
Innovation Solution
The use of a combination of pneumatic and non-pneumatic signals for breathing activity, where standardized distances from threshold values are compared and combined to enhance detection reliability and robustness, minimizing interference and premature triggering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If EMG signals are used as the sole basis for detecting breathing phase transitions, then sensitivity to patient effort is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to signal interference and disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple signal sources (EMG signals and pneumatic signals) to detect breathing phase transitions. By merging these independent information sources, the system achieves both high sensitivity to patient effort and reliability, as the combination compensates for the weaknesses of individual signals while maintaining their strengths.
2Reliability
If conventional pneumatic signals alone are used for phase detection, then reliability is maintained, but measurement precision deteriorates leading to incorrect phase detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges EMG signals with conventional pneumatic signals (flow or pressure) to detect breathing phase transitions. This combination allows the system to maintain the reliability and stability of pneumatic signals while gaining the enhanced sensitivity to patient effort provided by EMG signals, thereby improving overall phase detection accuracy.
3Reliability
If signal quality thresholds are used to switch between control modes, then reliability is improved, but information loss occurs when switching between signal sources
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of switching between control modes based on signal quality thresholds, the patent combines multiple signal sources continuously. This approach eliminates information loss by utilizing all available information from both EMG and pneumatic signals simultaneously, while maintaining control reliability through the complementary nature of the combined signals.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for the automatic control of a ventilator machine for changing over (triggering) between successive phases of ventilation (inspiration and expiration phases), in which a pneumatic signal for breathing activity Upneu(t) and a non-pneumatic signal for breathing activity unon-pneu(t) from a patient are sensed and, as from a preset reference time after the beginning of the current phase of ventilation, the respective distances Δpneu(t) and Δnon-pneu(t) from associated threshold values are determined and these distances Δpneu(t) and Δnon-pneu(t) are standardised in relation to one another, to become δpneu(t) and δnon-pneu(t), in such a way that their values are the same at the preset reference time, a mean is formed of the standardised distances δpneu(t) and δnon-pneu(t) to give a mean distance, and a changeover is made to the next phase of ventilation when the combined distance is 0.