Engineering Evaluation of the Performance of an Automatic Peripheral Oxygen Controller Using a Neonatal Respiratory Model

Abstract

Premature infants often require respiratory support with a varying concentration of the fraction of inspired oxygen FiO2 to keep the arterial oxygen saturation typically measured using a peripheral sensor (SpO2) within the desired range to avoid both hypoxia and hyperoxia. The widespread practice for controlling the fraction of inspired oxygen is by manual adjustment. Automatic control of the oxygen to assist care providers is desired. A novel closed-loop respiratory support device with dynamic adaptability is evaluated nonclinically by using a neonatal respiratory response model. The device demonstrated the ability to improve oxygen saturation control over manual control by increasing the proportion of time where SpO2 is within the desired range while minimizing the episodes and periods where SpO2 of the neonatal respiratory model is out of the target range.