Performance comparison of 15 transport ventilators.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Respiratory Care
• Critical Care Medicine

Background:

• Numerous mechanical ventilators are designed for patient transport, but their operational capabilities vary widely.
• Limited data exists for comparing the performance of these diverse transport ventilators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively evaluate the operational capabilities of 15 currently available mechanical ventilators designed for patient transport.
• To compare their performance across various critical parameters including gas consumption, battery life, and ventilation accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Bench and animal models were utilized to assess 15 transport ventilators.
• Evaluated physical characteristics, gas consumption, battery life, ease of use, and ability to deliver set ventilation parameters.
• Assessed maintenance of ventilation and oxygenation in normal and lung-injured sheep models.

Main Results:

• Ventilator oxygen cylinder duration ranged from 30 to 77 minutes; battery life varied from 70 minutes to 8 hours.
• Only 6 ventilators accurately delivered all set ventilation parameters on bench testing.
• Just 4 ventilators successfully maintained ventilation, oxygenation, and hemodynamics in both normal and lung-injured sheep.

Conclusions:

• Only 2 out of 15 evaluated transport ventilators met all performance targets in both bench and animal testing.
• Many ventilators exhibited inaccuracies in delivering set ventilation parameters, differing by over 10% from cardiopulmonary monitor values.
• High gas consumption and certain physical characteristics limit the desirability of some ventilators for patient transport.