The Control of Breathing During Mechanical Ventilation
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Mechanical Ventilation Boot Camp Curriculum
Published on: March 12, 2018
Magdy Younes1, Laurent Brochard2
1Department of Medicine, University of Manitoba, 1001 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3M0A7, Canada.
Abstract:
On mechanical ventilation, the lungs is subjected to the action of 2 pumps with independent control systems. The patient's control system responds to actions of the ventilator via programmed mechanisms that alter respiratory output in response to lung volume changes; blood gas tensions; and, in conscious patients, to ventilator-induced changes that are different from those expected by the patient's control system. By contrast, the ventilator responds to the patient's actions according to operational characteristics of the specific ventilator mode. That patient and ventilator responses are not coordinated results in complex breathing patterns that may adversely affect the clinical outcome.
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