An Optimally Controlled Respirator

Abstract

An optimally controlled respirator was developed. It has three main features: 1) ventilation is controlled by the patient's metabolic rate from continuously measured C0 <L xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</L> output, 2) physiologic dead space approximated as a linear function of tidal volume is used to estimate alveolar ventilation, and 3) respiratory rate is computed to minimize ventilatory work.