Monitoring respiratory function by computer in ICU. Preliminary work

The report describes the structure of a respiratory monitoring system under construction. The system is modular and hierarchized, based on the observation of lung mechanics, flows of inspired and expired gases and continuous blood measurements in artificially supplied patients. Respiratory monitoring may be confined to the continuous observation of the natural evolution of a large number of parameters and the extraction of the most information possible with the aid of automatic calculations effected in real time. The authors propose deliberate and controlled aggressions on the pulmonary system in order to observe its dynamic behavior. Practical function tests are described, leading to the calculation of functional residual capacity, continuous distribution of tidal volume, and pulmonary capillary blood flow. These tests can be performed automatically by using a new electronic unit built into the laboratory. It enables a digital computer to control the functioning of a ventilator which furthermore is commercially available.SCOPUS: NotDefined.j