Abstract
Tidal Liquid Ventilation (TLV) was demonstrated to improve lung mechanics and ventilation/perfusion matching in neonatal animal models with respiratory distress. Benefits derive from removing the liquid-gas interface in alveoli, by filling the lungs with liquid perfluorocarbon (PFC). The effects of ventilator settings on blood arterialization and lung mechanics have been scarcely studied quantitatively up to now. We developed a mathematical model describing the course of a neonatal TLV treatment as a function of the ventilator settings (breathing frequency (f), tidal volume (TV), inspiration-to-expiration ratio, PFC flow waveform and PFC pO2). In the overall model, a morphometric lumped-parameter model of airway mechanics (M1) and a model describing O2 and CO2 transport in PFC (M2) are coupled. M1 outputs the pressure and wall shear stress acting at all airway generations, accounting for nonlinear hydraulic airway resistance, inertance, and non-linear compliance, the latter allowing prediction of possible airway collapse phenomena. M2 calculates the diffusive and convective gas transfer through the PFC-filled lungs and the alveolus-capillary gas transfer by describing transport and kinetics of respiratory gases in pulmonary blood. Through the results of model simulations, strategies were defined to increase gas transfer taking the mechanical stresses into account. The model predicts that improving gas exchange without increasing maximum airway pressure is possible by increasing f and decreasing TV. Different strategies were also drawn to limit airway collapse danger or maximum airway shear stress.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
