Industry News: Researchers identify method for ventilating two patients simultaneously

Amid the potential acute shortages of ventilators at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have shown the potential for ventilators to be manipulated to ventilate two patients independently, in a new simulation study. 

In their paper, made available as a pre-print and submitted to Royal Society Open Science for peer review, a multidisciplinary team from King’s College London and Imperial College London have simulated the use of T-splitters, devices which split ventilator air supply to two patients simultaneously.  

In one ventilator setup they show that it could be possible to ventilate two patients with differing severity of lung problems at the same time and that ventilator requirements of one patient could be manipulated independently of the other.  

“This paper evaluated one possible approach to ventilator sharing and that the research provides a simulation model that could be used by other researchers to evaluate other potential solutions,” said Dr Steven Williams, clinical lecturer at the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London. “We show that our proposed modified splitter can help by allowing one particular ventilation parameter (tidal volume) to be adjusted.”

The results indicate that, with appropriate modifications, two patients could be supported from a single ventilator with independent control of tidal volumes.  

The team point out that there are a range of significant issues associated with ventilator splitting. However, given the extreme circumstances it is now being seriously considered as a ‘last resort’ solution in several countries.  

“This work uses a theoretical model to suggest how one of the issues, namely individualised air volume control, may be addressed,” said Dr Peter Vincent, Reader at the Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London. “Our team are now keen to get feedback from the international community and begin bench testing the approach as soon as possible.” 

“Time is of paramount importance in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Dr Williams. “We are therefore committed to completing this project from start to finish in as short a time as possible.” 

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