Electro-mechanical Lung Simulator Using Polymer and Organic Human Lung Equivalents for Realistic Breathing Simulation

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Respiratory Physiology
• Medical Simulation

Background:

• In-vivo respiratory models present ethical and complexity challenges for medical product development.
• There is a need for safe, cost-effective, and realistic simulation methods in respiratory research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce xPULM, an electro-mechanical lung simulator that bridges the gap between complex anatomical environments and simplified simulation methods.
• To realistically replicate actively breathing human lungs for research and development.

Main Methods:

• Developed an electro-mechanical lung simulator (xPULM) integrating in-silico, ex-vivo, and mechanical respiratory approaches.
• Modeled human lung anatomy using latex bags and primed porcine lungs.
• Verified reproducibility of sinusoidal breathing simulations at physiological frequencies (10-18 bpm) and tidal volumes (400-600 ml).

Main Results:

• xPULM demonstrated high reproducibility of flow and pressure characteristics during simulated breathing cycles (n=3273).
• Evaluated performance using simplified lung equivalents and primed porcine lungs, showing minimal standard deviation in flow and pressure.
• Achieved standard deviations of |3σ| = 23.98 ± 1.04 l/min for flow and μP = -0.78 ± 0.63 hPa for pressure with simplified models.
• Achieved standard deviations of |3σ| = 18.87 ± 2.49 l/min for flow and μP = -21.13 ± 1.47 hPa for pressure with porcine lungs.

Conclusions:

• The xPULM system realistically replicates human respiration, offering an adaptable and reproducible simulation platform.
• The use of salvaged porcine lungs provides an anatomically relevant and cost-effective component for advanced respiratory modeling.
• This electro-mechanical simulator represents a significant advancement for developing and testing medical products in respiratory research.