Switching control of medical ventilation systems

In this paper, we introduce a switching control strategy for mechanical ventilators in medical respiratory systems. Respiratory systems assist patients that have difficulty breathing on their own. For the comfort of the patient, fast pressure buildup (and release), and a stable flow response are desired. However, linear controllers typically need to balance between these conflicting objectives. In order to balance this trade-off in a more desirable manner, a switching controller is proposed, that switches the controller gain based on the magnitude of the patient flow. The effectiveness of the control strategy is demonstrated in a model-based simulation study.