Abstract
The ventilator, a life-saving device for COVID-19-infected patients, especially for pneumonia patients whose lungs are infected, has overwhelmingly skyrocketed since the pandemic of COVID-19 diseases started in December 2019. As a result, many biomedical engineers have rushed to design and construct emergency ventilators, using the Ambu-bag squeezing ventilator to compensate for the insufficient ventilators supply. The Ambu-bag squeezing ventilator, however, suffers from the limitation of delivered tidal volume to the patient, the setting respiration rate and the noisy operational sound due to the movement of mechanic parts. The Ambu-bag based ventilator is, hence, not suitable for prolonged treatment of the patient. This paper presents a design and construction of a blower-based pressure-controlled ventilator for home-treatment COVID-19 patients featured with our novel-designed flow and pressure sensor, electronic peep valve and proportional controlled valve. Our proposed ventilator can be programmed with the suitable parameter setting depending upon the weight, height, gender, and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) of the patients. This is useful in the current situation of COVID-19 pandemics, where trained medical staff is limited. The designed ventilator is also equipped with a safety mechanism, including an excessive-pressure-release valve, excessive flow rate, overpressure, and over-temperature blower to prevent any hazardous event. A home ventilator server is also set where all ventilator parameters will be acquired and broadcasted for remote access of the health provider. The designed blower-based ventilator has been calibrated and evaluated with a lung simulator and standard ventilator tester, including alarmed functions, safety mechanism, sound level, and regulated pressure. The respiration output graph is complied with the simulation. The blower-based ventilator for home-treatment COVID-19 patients is suitable for life support, commensurate with the strict requirements of the FDA for life-support ventilators, and ready to be tested with animal subjects in the next phase.
Highlights
The new COVID-19 disease was first identified in China at the end of 2019 and rapidly spread worldwide
Our designed blower-based ventilator emergency ventilator is programmable with the suitable parameter setting depending upon patient weight, height, sex, and percent blood oxygen (SpO2)
This is useful in the current situation of COVID-19 pandemics, where trained medical staff is limited
Summary
The new COVID-19 disease was first identified in China at the end of 2019 and rapidly spread worldwide. To prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19, many countries declare curfews, quarantine, and restrictions. One of the main life-threatening symptoms of a COVID-19 patient is respiration failure that hampers lung oxygen exchange. A mechanical ventilator is necessary for such COVID-19 patients whose lung is impaired and unable to perform gas exchange normally. An overwhelming demand for mechanical ventilators has captivated researcher attention, especially biomedical engineers interested in temporally designing and constructing emergency ventilators to be used for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms who are forced to be treated at home, as hospital faculties are running out of full capacity for severe-symptom COVID-19 patient admission
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