Optimising mechanical ventilation through model-based methods and automation

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a core life-support therapy for patients suffering from respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Respiratory failure is a secondary outcome of a range of injuries and diseases, and results in almost half of all intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving some form of MV. Funding the increasing demand for ICU is a major issue and MV, in particular, can double the cost per day due to significant patient variability, over-sedation, and the large amount of clinician time required for patient management. Reducing cost in this area requires both a decrease in the average duration of MV by improving care, and a reduction in clinical workload. Both could be achieved by safely automating all or part of MV care via model-based dynamic systems modelling and control methods are ideally suited to address these problems. This paper presents common lung models, and provides a vision for a more automated future and explores predictive capacity of some current models. This vision includes the use of model-based methods to gain real-time insight to patient condition, improve safety through the forward prediction of outcomes to changes in MV, and develop virtual patients for in-silico design and testing of clinical protocols. Finally, the use of dynamic systems models and system identification to guide therapy for improved personalised control of oxygenation and MV therapy in the ICU will be considered. Such methods are a major part of the future of medicine, which includes greater personalisation and predictive capacity to both optimise care and reduce costs. This review thus presents the state of the art in how dynamic systems and control methods can be applied to transform this core area of ICU medicine.