Increasing the capacity of ventilators with an open source device. Individualisation of an open source in line peep valve : study and validation in a fully differential multi-ventilation

Details

Supervisors

Raskin, Jean-Pierre

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil biomédical, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

With the COVID-19 pandemic that we have experienced, many problems in the hospital environment have arisen. The shortage of ventilators was one of them, resulting in a choice between patients to be saved. The lack of ventilators eventually led to the urgent necessity to increase the supply of ventilation assistance. Among the initiatives that arose during the crisis, some projects focused on increasing capacity of existing ventilators, so that several people could be ventilated at the same time. Such techniques are called multi-ventilation. In order to provide the appropriate ventilation treatment to each patient on the same medical ventilator, individual parameters must be modifiable in a mode called "differential multi-ventilation". In particular, valves are necessary, so that each patient can receive the ventilation appropriate to their needs. The peep valve is one of the essential valves for such ventilation as the peep improves the patient's oxygenation. As this shared ventilation is only used in a crisis context, these valves must be available quickly and everywhere in the world. Even if some valves exist, delivery time, price and limited stock can be a barrier to ordering them during crises. The use of peep valves available in open source could be an interesting answer to this challenge of individualisation of the parameter. However, a few studies have been conducted to study the ability of these open source peep valves to effectively respond to the needs. This work therefore focuses on (1) the validation of a 3D-printed peep valve including its performances, accuracy, sensibility and limitations and a full comparison with a CE certified peep valve. (2) Testing one-way valves to perform this differential ventilation. (3) Determining the pressure distribution without peep valve and flow restrictor. (4) Integrating and studying this peep valve into a complete system to allow a differential multi-ventilation. The results showed that a 3D-printed peep valve can have the same performances as a commercial valve. In addition, a couple of tests demonstrate that the one-way valve that I designed in this project is well working. Furthermore, this work illustrates that the open source peep valve can be integrated into a complete circuit composed of one-way valves and flow-restrictors in order to achieve differential ventilation for two patients with different physical and physiological characteristics. This thesis will therefore allow further studies on this subject in order to be able to apply it to real cases in crisis situations.