DESIGNING OF A VENTILATOR DISCONNECTION AND OVERPRESSURE ALARM

摘要

Ventilator disconnection and failure to ventilate the lungs due to partial or complete airway obstruction have been listed as the commonest causes of ventilator related accidents in the operation theater and in the intensive care units. Ventilator disconnection and overpressure alarms are considered mandatory for safety of patients under anaesthesia. Most of the anaesthetic ventilators used in our country do not possess this facility.rnWe devised an electronic ventilator disconnection and overpressure alarm system using indigenously available photooptical sensors mounted on an anacroid manometer. The system has been tried in an experimental setup as well as in 200 patients over a period of 6 months. The unit was found to be consistent, fail-proof and safe. Design aspects, working principle and clinical applications of the of the alarm system designed by us are presented.