Apparatus for optimizing the respiration for atelectatic lungs

摘要

The invention refers to a method and an apparatus for determining the status of a lung ventilated by an artificial ventilator. For determining the status of a lung ventilated by an artificial ventilator which enables in real time optimal ventilatory settings for a well-conducted recruitment maneuver of an ailing lung, an apparatus according to the invention comprises a sensor for measuring the CO2 concentration in the expired gas during a single breath, an analog to digital converter for obtaining data samples of the CO2 concentration of the expired gas over a single breath in the time domain, means for selecting a plurality of data samples from said obtained data samples, means for calculating a mean tracing value being sensitive to changes of alveolar dead space on the basis of said selected data samples, and a data processor which detects during a change of the airway pressure of the artificial ventilator from the resulting course of a plurality of calculated mean tracing values the airway pressure level at which alveolar opening or lung overdistension or lung open condition or alveolar closing occurs.