jwilson8767 / covid-19-ventilator-concept

Intermittent positive-pressure ventilation to two patients
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Sensors and feedback #4

Open jwilson8767 opened 4 years ago

jwilson8767 commented 4 years ago

One could optionally add contact switches at each end of the chamber (component A) and that get hit each time a valve completes a rotation inside the valve box. Such switches would create momentary closures. These could then be wired to a very simple circuit, perhaps battery powered, that turns on a light and makes a sound (i.e. an alarm) if any of these switches don't close for a period of time. This would just require very few and simple electronic components. I.E. if the unit stops due to loss of pressurized feed, loss of motor power, or any kind of jam or tube disconnection, then an alarm happens. -- Kevin Huscroft on Agorize

Love this idea, would be super simple to implement and may fulfill some of the need for feedback. Additionally, I believe an O2 sensor should be included on the patient expiration feed(s).

I also want to repost this comment from a related Reddit thread that emphasizes the importance of sensors:

I've been an ICU nurse for 20+ years. Mechanical ventilation is an extremely complex process. Sure, there are very simple machines that can provide basic ventilation ( Here's an example of a simple pneumatic ventilator ) but in the setting of serious illness and and ARDS I'd hate to rely on a primitive machine. Ventilation isn't just delivering a breath to a patient, it is also vital that the machine can provide measurements and feedback to allow practitioners to evaluate how the lung is responding to treatment (pressures, volumes, compliance.) You're pushing positive pressure into a balloon and the balloon is sick. It's hard to do. -- u/johnnycourage on Reddit