Oxygen therapy control of neonates - part I: A model of neonatal oxygen transport

A computer model of the neonatal oxygen transport system is developed based on an adult model consisting of the respiratory and circulatory systems. A four compartment (mouth, trachea, bronchi and alveoli) respiratory system of adult is modelled using an RC circuit analogy and a sinusoidal driving function. The adult circulatory system is modelled as nine mixing chambers and four delay compartments. The oxygen dissociation curve is used to link the two systems. Allometric equations and empirical data are used to scale the adult model to a 1500 g neonate. Dynamic shunting and oxygen affinity adjustment are supported as a means of accommodating future development in the field of automatic neonatal oxygen therapy. Neonatal model values for arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) and alveolar oxygen partial pressure (PAO2) are found to be comparable to physiological data