Harmonic excitation of linear respiratory mechanics for physiological dual controlled ventilation

The theoretical approach along with the rationale of harmonic excitation modality (HEM) applied as optimal dual controlled ventilation (DCV) to anaesthetized or severe brain injured patients, whose respiretory mechanics can be properly assumed steady and linear, are presented and discussed. The design criteria of an improved version of the Advanced Lung Ventilation System (ALVS), including HEM in its functional features, are described in details. In particular, the elimination of any undesiderable artificial distortion affecting the respiratory and ventilation pattern waveforms is achieved by maintaining continuous forever the airflow inside the ventilation circuit, ensuring also the highest level of safety for patient in any condition. In such a way, the full-time compatibility of controlled breathings with spontaneous breathing activity of patient during continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) or bilevel positive airways pressure (BiPAP) ventilation modalities and during assisted/controlled ventilation(A/CV), includeing also synchronized or triggered ventilation modalities, is an intrinsic innovative feature of the system available for clinical application. As expected and according to the clinical requirements, HEM provides for physiological respiratory and ventilation pattern waveforms together with optimal "breath to breath" feedback control of lung volume driven by an improved diagnostic measurement procedure, whose outputs are also vital for adapting all the pre-set ventilation parameters to the current value of the respiratory parameters of patient. The results produced by software simulations concerning both adult and neonatal patients in different clinical conditions are completely consistent with those obtained by the theoretical treatment, showing that HEM reaches the best performances from both clinical and engineering points of view.