Optimisation techniques to improve the drive efficiency of a mobile ventilator platform
- Authors: Imran, Mohammed Zaahid
- Date: 2024-04
- Subjects: Artificial respiration , Respirators (Medical equipment) , Topology , Medical instruments and apparatus -- Design and construction
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/64555 , vital:73749
- Description: COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the indispensable role of mechanical ventilators in providing critical respiratory support to patients. This research has focused on the imperative task of optimising the articulation system of the ventilator, designed to enhance its efficiency, with particular emphasis on improving the volume displacement from the ambu bag. Several optimisation methods were explored, including generative design (GD), Design of Experiments (DOE), Shape optimisation, and topology optimisation. The study also highlights the significance of additive manufacturing and material testing in developing ventilator components. The study delves into the intricate development and fine-tuning of the ventilator setup, emphasising its pivotal role in delivering life-sustaining respiratory aid. The ventilator’s core mechanisms, featuring a two-pusher arm system powered by a servo motor, was engineered intricately to apply precise pressure on the ambu bag. The research underscores the importance of optimising both the pusher arm and pressure plates to improve air displacement within the system. A significant challenge addressed in this research was the excessive strain on the servo motor owing to the demands of the articulation system. The research employed strategies such as shape optimisation and topology optimisation to reduce the stress on the articulation system while increasing the air displacement and thus reducing the pusher arm displacement on the ventilator. The research methodology included stages such as setting performance benchmarks, calibration, and verification to ensure precision and reliability; shape optimisation for maximum efficiency; and topology optimisation for superior structural performance and reduced weight. These interconnected stages were instrumental in the comprehensive development and enhancement of the ventilator system, ensuring its effectiveness and dependability in delivering lifesaving respiratory support.This research extensively examined sensor reliability and performance through verification tests and calibrations, highlighting the precision of the servo motor and the suitability of the 5-Amps current sensor for monitoring servo motor current without additional calibration. Optimisation efforts aimed to enhance the ventilators performance by relocating the pusher arm to the bag’s centre, resulting in improved volume displacement efficiency by 7.78 % and a 25.35 % reduction in current consumption. Shape optimisation, especially with curvature-based pressure plates, increased volume displacement by 84.47 % reaching an optimal configuration outputting 1475.73 ml of volume per compression. Understanding the forces through strain gauges and FEA facilitated topology optimisation, the MAXSTIFFDS15 configuration demonstrated promising results by reducing component weight and achieving significant energy savings of 45.04 %, potentially reducing long-term costs. , Thesis (MEng) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, School of Engineering, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-04
Lived experiences of professional nurses caring for mechanically ventilated patients
- Authors: Else, Liana
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Respiratory intensive care , Respiratory therapy , Respirators (Medical equipment) , Artificial respiration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8295 , vital:26320
- Description: Critical care nursing is a speciality that continues to evolve and transform. Critical care nurses of the 21st century routinely care for the complex, critically ill patient, integrating sophisticated technology with the accompanying psychosocial challenges and the ethical conflicts associated with critical illness – while, at the same time, addressing the needs and concerns of the family. Providing nursing care in such a dynamic and fast-track unit can pose various challenges for the critical care nurse. Professional nurses are the backbone of any health-care system. The quality of nursing directly affects the patients’ outcomes, and nursing care must therefore be rendered meticulously. Mechanical ventilator support is routinely needed for critically ill adults in these care units and is also a common therapy in sub-acute and long-term care settings. The care of the mechanically ventilated patient is the core of a professional nurse`s practice in the critical care unit. The mechanically ventilated patient presents many challenges for the professional nurse, while the critical care unit poses as a stressful environment for the professional nurse as well as the patient. The objectives of this study therefore were to explore and describe the lived experiences of professional nurses while caring for mechanically ventilated patients, and to develop recommendations to support professional nurses while caring for mechanically ventilated patients. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was utilised. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and analysed according to the framework provided by Tesch. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of professional nurses working in a critical care environment. Guba’s model was utilised to verify data and to ensure trustworthiness of the study. Ethical principles were adhered to throughout this research study. With the analysed data, recommendations were to support professional nurses while caring for mechanically ventilated.
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- Date Issued: 2015
The perceptions of professional nurses with regard to the process of withdrawing life-support treatment in a private intensive care unit
- Authors: Pheiffer, Evette
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Artificial respiration , Cardiotonic agents , Life support systems (Critical care)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3115 , vital:20400
- Description: Life-support treatment is regarded as the support of vital functions of respiration and circulation such as mechanical ventilation and inotropic support, and life-sustaining therapy which incorporate therapies such as artificial hydration, nutrition and haemodialysis. Life-support treatment is rendered to critically ill patients within the intensive care units. However, when treatment options are maximised, and the patient’s condition is unchanged, a decision is often made to withdraw treatment. Professional nurses are usually involved in the process of withdrawal of life-support treatment as they care for this population of patients. The study followed a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research paradigm in order to explore and describe the perceptions of professional nurses with regard to the process of withdrawing life-support treatment in a private intensive care unit. Data was collected by means of interviews, which were transcribed according to Tesch’s method of analysis. Field notes were used to supplement the data findings. Based on the data collected, it is clear that professional nurses experience difficulties when performing withdrawal of life-support treatment. There are a number of communication concerns which need to be addressed and suggestions were also made by the interview participants regarding these concerns. The study makes recommendations to assist professional nurses with the process of withdrawing life-support treatment in a private intensive care unit. The findings of the study will be disseminated to the relevant hospital and unit managers. Ethical principles were maintained throughout the study by adhering to the principles of privacy, confidentiality, anonymity and beneficence.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Professional nurses' knowledge regarding weaning the critically ill patient from the mechanical ventilation
- Authors: Demingo, Xavier Preston
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Artificial respiration , Respiratory therapy , Critical care medicine , Respirators (Medical equipment) , Artificial respiration -- Nursing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: vital:10026 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1323 , Artificial respiration , Respiratory therapy , Critical care medicine , Respirators (Medical equipment) , Artificial respiration -- Nursing
- Description: Mechanical ventilation (MV) is one of the most frequently used treatment modalities in the intensive care unit (ICU) (Burns, 2005:14). Up to 90% of critically ill patients in ICUs globally are connected to a mechanical ventilator. Although mechanical ventilation is a lifesaving intervention, it is expensive and is associated with diverse complications (Mclean, Jensen, Schroeder, Gibney & Skjodt, 2006: 299). Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) accounts for 25% of all infections in ICU, with global crude mortality figures estimated at 20-70% (Craven, 2006:251). Minimising the time that a patient is connected to a mechanical ventilator to the absolute minimum can have considerable benefits in terms of decreased mortality and morbidity, as well as a decreased length of ICU stay and lower hospital costs. Critically ill patients therefore need to be weaned from the mechanical ventilator as soon as their condition that warranted the need for mechanical ventilation is stabilized. The process of weaning the critically ill patient from mechanical ventilation constitutes a significant proportion of total ventilator time. As professional nurses attend to the mechanically ventilated patient 24 hours a day, they have a vital role to play in the collaborative management of the patient requiring weaning from mechanical ventilation. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the professional nurses’ knowledge regarding weaning the critically ill patient from mechanical ventilation. Based on the results, recommendations in the form of a protocol were made in order to improve the professional nurses’ knowledge and enhance the care of the mechanically ventilated patient. A quantitative design, which was exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature, was utilised for the study. The data collection instrument of choice was a self-administered questionnaire. Convenience, non-probability sampling was the sampling method chosen for the purpose of this study. Collected data were analysed with the assistance of a statistician using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results were displayed in the form of graphs and tables. The results obtained in the study, combined with data from the literature review, were used to develop recommendations to enhance vi professional nurses’ knowledge regarding weaning the critically ill patient from mechanical ventilation. The recommendations were presented in the form of a protocol based on the available evidence. Ethical principles as they relate to conducting research were adhered to throughout the study.
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- Date Issued: 2011