British Journal of Anaesthesia, Vol 80, Issue 4 434-439, Copyright © 1998 by The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia
J. S. Mecklenburgh and W. W. Mapleson
The aim of this study was to develop a lung model which adapted its active
simulation of spontaneous breathing to the ventilatory assistance it
received--an "aa" or "a-squared" lung model. The active element required
was the waveform of negative pressure (pmus), which is equivalent to
respiratory muscle activity. This had been determined previously in 12
healthy volunteers and comprised a contraction phase, relaxation phase and
expiratory pause. Ventilatory assistance had shortened the contraction and
relaxation phases without changing their shape, and lengthened the pause
phase to compensate. In this study, the contraction and relaxation phases
could be adequately represented by two quadratic equations, in addition to
a third to provide a smooth transition. Therefore, the adaptive element
required was the prediction of the duration of the contraction phase. The
best predictive variables were flow at the end of contraction or peak mouth
pressure. Determination of either of these allowed adjustment of the
"standard" waveform to the level of assistance produced by an "average"
ventilator, in a manner that matched the mean response of 12 healthy
conscious subjects.
CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Ventilatory assistance and respiratory muscle activity. 2: Simulation with an adaptive active ("aa" or "a-squared") model lung
Department of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Health Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN
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