In light of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, there is worldwide concern at the availability of specialist equipment to care for the most unwell patients. COVID-19 can lead to severe viral pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) requiring advanced respiratory support including invasive ventilation. A particular concern is the limited ventilator capacity to deal with the numbers of patients who are estimated to require ventilation at the peak of the pandemic.
The idea of sharing a ventilator between varying numbers of patients has been proposed previously (relating to trauma victims) and also again during the current pandemic, where it has been tested in Italy. Despite this it has not been widely adopted and has raised a number of concerns, especially around the inability to effectively ventilate patients with differing lung physiology who will require differing ventilation parameters.
Aim
The aim of this work is to develop a 3D-printable splitter which allows two patients to be ventilated using one ventilator whilst customising and allowing the independent adjustment of the ventilatory parameters delivered to each patient. Therefore, attempting to address some of the concerns raised regarding use of a split ventilator.
Approach
We have established a cross discipline project team with experts in the fields of computational fluid dynamics, 3D printing, intensive care, anaesthesiology and medical physics. The project will be conducted in 4 stages, as outlined in the subsequent sections.
Funding
This work is supported by a CME Covid-19 Pump Priming Award from the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering [WT 203148/Z/16/Z]
Disclaimer
Although the aim of this group is to investigate the possibility and plausibly of ventilating two patients with one ventilator, to be absolutely clear the ventilation of two patients using one ventilator is strongly advised against if any alternate options are available.