Ambient pressure air/oxygen blender

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Respiratory Therapy Devices

Background:

• Increasing number of ventilator-dependent patients require home care.
• Lack of compressed air facilities in homes poses challenges for respiratory therapy.
• Existing devices may not be suitable for home-based, non-pressurized air environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a unique air/oxygen mixing device for respiratory therapy.
• To address the need for reliable gas blending in home-care settings without compressed air.
• To introduce a pneumatically driven blender with a specialized poppet-seat configuration.

Main Methods:

• Designed and constructed a prototype of the air/oxygen mixing device.
• Utilized a specialized poppet-seat configuration for proportional gas flow adjustment.
• Tested the device for blending accuracy and pressure drop.

Main Results:

• The prototype demonstrated favourable blending accuracy.
• Pressure drop results were within acceptable parameters.
• The device maintained set air and oxygen percentages despite varying ventilator demand.

Conclusions:

• The developed pneumatic blender is a viable solution for respiratory therapy in environments lacking compressed air.
• The device's design ensures accurate air/oxygen mixtures essential for patient care.
• This innovation supports the increasing trend of home-based ventilator dependency.