SBIR-STTR Award

Healthcare reform has resulted in sicker patients being cared for in the home and extended care facilities. Patients who require long term mechanical ventilation represent a special needs group within this population. The single greatest impediment to quality of life in the ventilator assisted individual is portability. Current generation ventilators are large, heavy (30 lbs), and require significant battery power. This application proposes to build a small, lightweight flow generator that produces air via an energy efficient turbine. The investigative plan will refine the turbine to minimize size (<2 lbs), provide a flow of 160 lpm, provide a pressure of 120 cm H2O, and increase efficiency from the current turbine technology by over 100%. Following refinement of the flow generator, a precise control system for delivery of volume and pressure breaths will be designed to meet the needs of the home care population from pediatrics to adults. The proposed ventilator will have immediate commercial potential users of this new technology. In Phase II the investigators will develop a complete portable ventilator based on the Phase I roots blower flow system. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The turbine technology here proposed would be used as the "engine" for future portable ventilators. It is estimated that worldwide from 2 to 3 million patients per year require some form of mechanical ventilation. As of the year 2000, it is estimated that approximately 23,400 ventilators will be sold, yielding about $392 million dollars in annual revenue. Within this broad market, the portable ventilator technology here proposed would be essential for homecare, transport, military field applications and alternate care environments.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Project Terms:
biomedical equipment development; mechanical pressure; respirator; portable biomedical equipment; miniature biomedical equipment

Healthcare reform has resulted in sicker patients being cared for in the home and extended care facilities. Patients who require long term mechanical ventilation represent a special needs group within this population. The single greatest impediment to quality of life in the ventilator-assisted individual is portability. Current generation ventilators in general, are large, heavy (approximately 30 Ibs.), and require significant battery power. The investigators have previously developed a robust, high performance ventilator weighing only 12 Ibs. This product captured >20% of the home care ventilator market in < 2 years, validating the importance of portability. This application proposes developing the next generation truly portable "Palm Top Ventilation'. Three small, lighter-weight (6 Ibs.), ventilator prototypes, which produce air via an energy efficient roots blower, will be designed and built. The investigative plan includes: 1) building on the knowledge gained during the Phase I activities, complete the development of the Roots blower into a commercially manufacturability component. Cost effectiveness, manufacturing repeatability, and long term reliability of the blower will be evaluated; 2) reducing the noise output of the roots blower based P'IV to under 45 dbA as measured at one meter from the ventilator; 3) developing the software based control algorithms enabling the ventilator to deliver the entire range of ventilation modes and breath types including Volume Controlled (VC)breaths, Pressure Controlled (PC) breaths, and hybrid VC/PC breaths; 4) developing a robust product package that will enable the device to survive the extreme shock and vibration associated with transport, including 100 g shocks and being dropped from a height of 36"; and 5) completing the initial bench testing and human subject testing.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Project Terms:
biomedical equipment development; computer program /software; human subject; mechanical pressure; respirator; pulmonary respiration; clinical research; portable biomedical equipment; miniature biomedical equipment; cost effectiveness