Tidewater Community College
Virginia Beach Campus
Respiratory Care Program
To demonstrate the affect that inspiratory flow wave form change has on monitored ventilator parameters the following settings will be held constant, while the inspiratory flow waveform patterns are changed and the ventilator parameters are monitored and recorded.
Borrowing from the discipline of ECG interpretation:
To measure these aspects of the inspiratory flow wave form, it will probably be easiest to print them first. Once you've got a printed copy, use calipers, a ruler or something to measure this information from the waveforms. Be creative, and barrow from other classroom and clinical experiences, for example, get out your calipers from a past ECG class and use them to gather this information from the waveforms.
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View the wave form to the left , and identify the essential elements of
the flow wave form. The beginning of inspiration is at the first positive upswing of the
inspiratory flow wave form. Peak inspiratory flow is at the highest point of the wave
form. It is labeled with the numerical value of 48 liters/minute. Inspiratory time is
labeled in a square under the inspiratory flow wave form. The time available for exhalation, is identified by the square extending from the end of inspiration to the beginning of the next breath. If you measure these time blocks, you will discover that the patient has one second to inhale, and three seconds available to exhale. Therefore, the patients I:E ratio is 1:3. However, in actuality the patient exhales in one second, the actual I:E ratio is 1:1. |