Low-Complexity System and Algorithm for an Emergency Ventilator Sensor and Alarm.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Device Technology
• Respiratory Care

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted potential shortages of commercial ventilators.
• Low-cost, pressure-cycled emergency ventilators were developed but often lacked essential monitoring and alarm features.
• This gap posed a risk to patient safety due to the absence of critical performance feedback.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an affordable and easily producible electronic sensor and alarm system for pressure-cycled emergency ventilators.
• To enable estimation of key clinical metrics like airway pressure and respiratory rate.
• To provide timely alerts for ventilator malfunctions.

Main Methods:

• Designed a low-cost electronic sensor system connected to the patient airway.
• Implemented a signal processing algorithm using nonlinear recursive envelope trackers.
• Utilized a pair of envelope trackers to monitor pressure sensor signals.
• Algorithm designed for low memory and computational requirements, suitable for microcontrollers.

Main Results:

• The system successfully estimates clinically relevant metrics such as pressure and respiratory rate.
• The developed system provides an alarm function for ventilator malfunctions.
• The low-complexity algorithm ensures compatibility with basic microcontrollers.

Conclusions:

• A low-cost, easily producible electronic sensor and alarm system was successfully developed for emergency ventilators.
• The system enhances the safety and functionality of basic pressure-cycled ventilators.
• This innovation addresses the need for essential monitoring in resource-limited settings.