Patent Application
20120006328
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for the provision of ventilatory assistance matched to a subject's respiratory need. The ventilatory assistance can be for a subject who is either spontaneously or non-spontaneously breathing, or moves between these breathing states. The invention is especially suitable for, but not limited to, spontaneously breathing human subjects requiring longterm ventilatory assistance, particularly during sleep.
Subjects with severe lung disease, chest wall disease, neuromuscular disease, or diseases of respiratory control may require in-hospital mechanical ventilatory assistance, followed by longterm home mechanical ventilatory assistance, particularly during sleep. The ventilator delivers air or air enriched with oxygen to the subject, via an interface such as a nosemask, at a pressure that is higher during inspiration and lower during expiration.
In the awake state, and while waiting to go to sleep, the subject's ventilatory pattern is variable in rate and depth. Most known ventilatory devices do not accurately match the amplitude and phase of mask pressure to the subject's spontaneous efforts, leading to discomfort or panic. Larger amounts of asynchrony also reduce the efficiency of the device. During sleep, there are changes in the neural control of breathing as well as the mechanics of the subject's airways, respiratory muscles and chest wall, leading to a need for substantially increased ventilatory support. Therefore, unless the device can automatically adjust the degree of support, the amplitude of delivered pressure will either be inadequate during sleep, or must be excessive in the awake state. This is particularly important in subjects with abnormalities of respiratory control, for example central hypoventilation syndromes, such as Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome, where there is inadequate chemoreceptor drive, or Cheyne Stokes breathing such as in patients with severe cardiac failure or after a stroke, where there is excessive or unstable chemoreceptor drive.
Furthermore, during sleep there are inevitably large leaks between mask and subject, or at the subject's mouth if this is left free. Such leaks worsen the error in matching the phase and magnitude of the machine's effort to the subject's needs, and, in the case of mouth leak, reduce the effectiveness of the ventilatory support.
Ideally a ventilatory assistance device should simultaneously address the following goals:
(i) While the subject is awake and making substantial ventilatory efforts, the delivered assistance should be closely matched in phase with the patient's efforts.
(ii) The machine should automatically adjust the degree of assistance to maintain at least a specified minimum ventilation, without relying on the integrity of the subject's chemoreflexes.
(iii) It should continue to work correctly in the presence of large leaks.
Most simple home ventilators either deliver a fixed volume, or cycle between two fixed pressures. They do so either at a fixed rate, or are triggered by the patient's spontaneous efforts, or both. All such simple devices fail to meet goal (ii) of adjusting the degree of assistance to maintain at least a given ventilation. They also largely fail to meet goal (i) of closely matching the subjects respiratory phase: timed devices make no attempt to synchronize with the subject's efforts; triggered devices attempt to synchronize the start and end of the breath with the subject's efforts, but make no attempt to tailor the instantaneous pressure during a breath to the subject's efforts. Furthermore, the triggering tends to fail in the presence of leaks, thus failing goal (iii).
The broad family of servo-ventilators known for at least 20 years measure ventilation and adjust the degree of assistance to maintain ventilation at or above a specified level, thus meeting goal (ii), but they still fail to meet goal (i) of closely matching the phase of the subject's spontaneous efforts, for the reasons given above. No attempt is made to meet goal (iii).
Proportional assistist ventilation (PAV), as taught by Dr Magdy Younes, for example in Principles and Practice of Mechanical Ventilation, chapter 15, aims to tailor the pressure vs time profile within a breath to partially or completely unload the subject's resistive and elastic work, while minimizing the airway pressure required to achieve the desired ventilation. During the inspiratory half-cycle, the administered pressure takes the form:
P(t)=P0+R·fRESP(t)+E·V(t)
where R is a percentage of the resistance of the airway, fRESP(t) is the instantaneous respiratory airflow at time t, E is a percentage of the elastance of lung and chest wall, and V(t) is the volume inspired since the start of inspiration to the present moment. During the expiratory half-cycle, V(t) is taken as zero, to produce passive expiration.
An advantage of proportional assist ventilation during spontaneous breathing is that the degree of assistance is automatically adjusted to suit the subject's immediate needs and their pattern of breathing, and is therefore comfortable in the spontaneously breathing subject. However, there are at least two important disadvantages. Firstly, V(t) is calculated as the integral of flow with respect to time since the start of inspiration. A disadvantage of calculating V(t) in this way is that, in the presence of leaks, the integral of the flow through the leak will be included in V(t), resulting in an overestimation of V(t), in turn resulting in a runaway increase in the administered pressure. This can be distressing to the subject. Secondly, PAV relies on the subject's chemoreceptor reflexes to monitor the composition of the arterial blood, and thereby set the level of spontaneous effort. The PAV device then amplifies this spontaneous effort. In subjects with abnormal chemoreceptor reflexes, the spontaneous efforts may either cease entirely, or become unrelated to the composition of the arterial blood, and amplification of these efforts will yield inadequate ventilation. In patients with existing Cheyne Stokes breathing during sleep, PAV will by design amplify the subject's waxing and waning breathing efforts, and actually make matters worse by exaggerating the disturbance. Thus PAV substantially meets goal (i) of providing assistance in phase with the subject's spontaneous ventilation, but cannot meet goal (ii) of adjusting the depth of assistance if the subject has inadequate chemoreflexes, and does not satisfactorily meet goal (iii).
Thus there are known devices that meet each of the above goals, but there is no device that meets all the goals simultaneously. Additionally, it is desirable to provide improvements over the prior art directed to any one of the stated goals.
Therefore, the present invention seeks to achieve, at least partially, one or more of the following:
(i) to match the phase and degree of assistance to the subject's spontaneous efforts when ventilation is well above a target ventilation,
(ii) to automatically adjust the degree of assistance to maintain at least a specified minimum average ventilation without relying on the integrity of the subject's chemoreflexes and to damp out instabilities in the spontaneous ventilatory efforts, such as Cheyne Stokes breathing.
(iii) to provide some immunity to the effects of sudden leaks.
In what follows, a fuzzy membership function is taken as returning a value between zero and unity, fuzzy intersection
The invention discloses the determination of the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle as a continuous variable.
The invention further discloses a method for calculating the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle including at least the steps of determining that if the instantaneous airflow is small and increasing fast, then it is close to start of inspiration, if the instantaneous airflow is large and steady, then it is close to mid-inspiration, if the instantaneous airflow is small and decreasing fast, then it is close to mid-expiration, if the instantaneous airflow is zero and steady, then it is during an end-expiratory pause, and airflow conditions intermediate between the above are associated with correspondingly intermediate phases.
The invention further discloses a method for determining the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle as a continuous variable from 0 to 1 revolution, the method comprising the steps of:
Preferably, the identifiable features include zero crossings, peaks, inflection points or plateaus of the prototype flow-vs-time waveform. Furthermore, said weights can be unity, or chosen to reflect the anticipated reliability of deduction of the particular feature.
The invention further discloses a method for calculating instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle as a continuous variable, as described above, in which the step of calculating respiratory airflow includes a low pass filtering step to reduce non-respiratory noise, in which the time constant of the low pass filter is an increasing function of an estimate of the length of the respiratory cycle.
The invention further discloses a method for measuring the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle as a continuous variable as described above, in which the defuzzification step includes a correction for any phase delay introduced in the step of low pass filtering respiratory airflow.
The invention further discloses a method for measuring the average respiratory rate, comprising the steps of:
measuring leak-corrected respiratory airflow,
from the respiratory airflow, calculating the instantaneous phase (I) in the respiratory cycle as a continuous variable from 0 to 1 revolution, calculating the instantaneous rate of change of phase dφ/dt, and
calculating the average respiratory rate by low pass filtering said instantaneous rate of change of phase dφ/dt.
Preferably, the instantaneous phase is calculated by the methods described above.
The invention further discloses a method for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject, comprising the steps, performed at repeated sampling intervals, of:
ascribing a desired waveform template function π(φ), with domain 0 to 1 revolution and range 0 to 1,
calculating the instantaneous phase φ in the respiratory cycle as a continuous variable from 0 to 1 revolution,
selecting a desired pressure modulation amplitude A,
calculating a desired instantaneous delivery pressure as an end expiratory pressure plus the desired pressure modulation amplitude A multiplied by the value of the waveform template function π(φ) at the said calculated phase φ, and
setting delivered pressure to subject to the desired delivery pressure.
The invention further discloses a method for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject as described above, in which the step of selecting a desired pressure modulation amplitude is a fixed amplitude.
The invention further discloses a method for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject as described above, in which the step of selecting a desired pressure modulation amplitude in which said amplitude is equal to an elastance multiplied by an estimate of the subject's tidal volume.
The invention further discloses a method for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject as described above, in which the step of selecting a desired pressure modulation amplitude comprises the substeps of:
The invention further discloses a method for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject, including at least the step of determining the extent that the subject is adequately ventilated, to said extent the phase in the respiratory cycle is determined from the subject's respiratory airflow, but to the extent that the subject's ventilation is inadequate, the phase in the respiratory cycle is assumed to increase at a pre-set rate, and setting mask pressure as a function of said phase.
The invention further discloses a method for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject, comprising the steps of: measuring respiratory airflow, determining the extent to which the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle can be determined from said airflow, to said extent determining said phase from said airflow but to the extent that the phase in the respiratory cycle cannot be accurately determined, the phase is assumed to increase at a preset rate, and delivering pressure as a function of said phase.
The invention further discloses a method for calculating the instantaneous inspired volume of a subject, operable substantially without run-away under conditions of suddenly changing leak, the method comprising the steps of:
determining respiratory airflow approximately corrected for leak,
calculating an index J varying from 0 to 1 equal to the fuzzy extent to which said corrected respiratory airflow is large positive for longer than expected, or large negative for longer than expected,
identifying the start of inspiration, and
calculating the instantaneous inspired volume as the integral of said corrected respiratory airflow multiplied by the fuzzy negation of said index J with respect to time, from start of inspiration.
The invention further discloses a method “A” for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject, the method comprising the steps, performed at repeated sampling intervals, of:
determining respiratory airflow approximately corrected for leak,
calculating an index J varying from 0 to 1 equal to the fuzzy extent to which said respiratory airflow is large positive for longer than expected, or large negative for longer than expected,
calculating a modified airflow equal to said respiratory airflow multiplied by the fuzzy negation of said index J,
identifying the phase in the respiratory cycle,
calculating the instantaneous inspired volume as the integral of said modified airflow with respect to time, with the integral held at zero during the expiratory portion of the respiratory cycle,
calculating a desired instantaneous delivery pressure as a function at least of the said instantaneous inspired volume, and
setting delivered pressure to subject to the desired delivery pressure.
The invention further discloses a method “B” for providing ventilatory assistance in a spontaneously breathing subject, comprising the steps of:
determining respiratory airflow approximately corrected for leak,
calculating an index J varying from 0 to 1 equal to the fuzzy extent to which the respiratory airflow is large positive for longer than expected, or large negative for longer than expected,
identifying the phase in the respiratory cycle,
calculating a modified respiratory airflow equal to the respiratory airflow multiplied by the fuzzy negation of said index J,
calculating the instantaneous inspired volume as the integral of the modified airflow with respect to time, with the integral held at zero during the expiratory portion of the respiratory cycle,
calculating the desired instantaneous delivery pressure as an expiratory pressure plus a resistance multiplied by the instantaneous respiratory airflow plus a nonlinear resistance multiplied by the respiratory airflow multiplied by the absolute value of the respiratory airflow plus an elastance multiplied by the said adjusted instantaneous inspired volume, and
setting delivered pressure to subject to the desired delivery pressure.
The invention yet further discloses a method “C” for providing assisted ventilation to match the subject's need, comprising the steps of:
describing a desired waveform template function π(φ), with domain 0 to 1 revolution and range 0 to 1,
determining respiratory airflow approximately corrected for leak,
calculating an index J varying from 0 to 1 equal to the fuzzy extent to which the respiratory airflow is large positive for longer than expected, or large negative for longer than expected,
calculating JPEAK equal to the recent peak of the index J,
calculating the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle,
calculating a desired amplitude of pressure modulation, chosen to servo-control the degree of ventilation to at least exceed a specified ventilation,
calculating a desired delivery pressure as an end expiratory pressure plus the calculated pressure modulation amplitude A multiplied by the value of the waveform template function π(φ) at the said calculated phase φ, and
setting delivered pressure to subject to said desired instantaneous delivered pressure.
The invention yet further discloses a method for providing assisted ventilation to match the subject's need, as described above, in which the step of calculating a desired amplitude of pressure modulation, chosen to servo-control the degree of ventilation to at least exceed a specified ventilation, comprises the steps of:
calculating a target airflow equal to twice the target ventilation divided by the target respiratory rate,
deriving an error term equal to the absolute value of the instantaneous low pass filtered respiratory airflow minus the target airflow, and
calculating the amplitude of pressure modulation as the integral of the error term multiplied by a gain, with the integral clipped to lie between zero and a maximum.
The invention yet further discloses a method for providing assisted ventilation to match the subject's need, as described above, in which the step of calculating a desired amplitude of pressure modulation, chosen to servo-control the degree of ventilation to at least exceed a specified ventilation, comprises the following steps:
The invention yet further discloses a method for providing assisted ventilation to match the subject's need, and with particular application to subjects with varying respiratory mechanics, insufficient respiratory drive, abnormal chemoreceptor reflexes, hypoventilation syndromes, or Cheyne Stokes breathing, combined with the advantages of proportional assist ventilation adjusted for sudden changes in leak, comprising the steps, performed at repeated sampling intervals, of:
The invention yet further discloses apparatus to give effect to each one of the methods defined, including one or more transducers to measure flow and/or pressure, processor means to perform calculations and procedures, flow generators for the supply of breathable gas at a pressure above atmospheric pressure and gas delivery means to deliver the breathable gas to a subject's airways.
The apparatus can include ventilators, ventilatory assist devices, and CPAP devices including constant level, bi-level or autosetting level devices.
It is to be understood that while the algorithms embodying the invention are explained in terms of fuzzy logic, approximations to these algorithms can be constructed without the use of the fuzzy logic formalism.
A number of embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
a and 1b show apparatus for first and second embodiments of the invention respectively;
The two embodiments to be described are ventilators that operate in a manner that seeks to simultaneously achieve the three goals stated above.
Apparatus to give effect to a first embodiment of the apparatus is shown in
It is to be understood that the mask could equally be replaced with a tracheotomy tube, endotracheal tube, nasal pillows, or other means of making a sealed connection between the air delivery means and the subject's airway.
The microprocessor 16 is programmed to perform the following steps, to be considered in conjunction with Tables 1 and 2.
P=P
0
+Aπ(Φ)
ΔΦ+=0.5T/TITGT
ΔΦE=0.5 T/TETGT
V=0.5|fRESP|
V
ERR=∫(VTGT−V)dt
f
NORM
=f
RESP
/V
BAR.
ΔΦINST=1−(ΔΦINST−Φ)(ΦINST−Φ>0.5)
ΔΦINST=ΦINST−Φ++1(ΦINST−Φ<−0.5)
ΔΦINST=ΦINST−Φ(otherwise)
ΔΦ=(1−W)ΔΦI+WΔΦINST(0<Φ<0.5)
ΔΦ=(1−W)ΔΦI+WΔΦINST(otherwise)
ΔΦBLEND=BΔΦ+0.5(1−B)T/TITGT(0<Φ<0.5)
ΔΦBLEND=BΔΦ+0.5(1−B)T/TETGT(otherwise)
ΔΦI=T/τVBAR(ΔΦBLEND−ΔΦI)(0<Φ<0.5)
ΔΦE=T/τBAR(ΔΦBLEND−ΔΦE)(otherwise)
TI=0.5T/ΔΦI
TE=0.5T/ΔΦE
A
D
=A
STD/2(TT<TTSTD/2)
A
D=2·ASTD(TT>2·TTSTD)
A
D
=A
STD
·TT/TT
STD(otherwise)
A
E
=K·V
ERR(for VERR>0)
A
E=0(otherwise)
where larger values of K will produce a faster but less stable control of the degree of assistance, and smaller values of K will produce slower but more stable control of the degree of assistance.
P
MASK
=P
0+(AD+AE)π(Φ)
As follows from above, it is necessary to respiratory airflow, which is a standard procedure to one skilled in the art. In the absence of leak, respiratory airflow can be measured directly with a pneumotachograph placed between the mask and the exhaust. In the presence of a possible leak, one method disclosed in European Publication No 0 651 971 incorporated herein by cross-reference is to calculate the mean flow through the leak, and thence calculate the amount of modulation of the pneumotachograph flow signal due to modulation of the flow through the leak induced by changing mask pressure, using the following steps:
δ(leak)=0.5 times the mean leak times the inducing pressure,
where the inducing pressure is PMASK−mean mask pressure.
Thence the instantaneous respiratory airflow can be calculated as:
f
RESP
=f
MASK−mean leak−δ(leak)
A convenient extension as further disclosed in EP 0 651 971 (incorporated herein by cross-reference) is to measure airflow fTURBINE and pressure PTURBINE at the outlet of the turbine, and thence calculate PMASK and fMASK by allowing for the pressure drop down the air delivery hose, and the airflow lost via the exhaust:
ΔPHOSE=K1(FTURBINE)−K2(FTURBINE)2 1.
P
MASK
=P
TURBINE
−ΔP
HOSE 2.
F
EXHAUST
=K3√PMASK 3.
F
MASK
=F
TURBINE
−F
EXHAUST 4.
The following embodiment is particularly applicable to subjects with varying respiratory mechanics, insufficient respiratory drive, abnormal chemoreceptor reflexes, hypoventilation syndromes, or Cheyne Stokes breathing, or to subjects with abnormalities of the upper or lower airways, lungs, chest wall, or neuromuscular system.
Many patients with severe lung disease cannot easily be treated using a smooth physiological pressure waveform, because the peak pressure required is unacceptably high, or unachievable with for example a nose-mask. Such patients may prefer a square pressure waveform, in which pressure rises explosively fast at the moment of commencement of inspiratory effort. This may be particularly important in patients with high intrinsic PEEP, in which it is not practicable to overcome the intrinsic PEEP by the use of high levels of extrinsic PEEP or CPAP, due to the risk of hyperinflation. In such subjects, any delay in triggering is perceived as very distressing, because of the enormous mis-match between expected and observed support. Smooth waveforms exaggerate the perceived delay, because of the time taken for the administered pressure to exceed the intrinsic PEEP. This embodiment permits the use of waveforms varying continuously from square (suitable for patients with for example severe lung or chest wall disease or high intrinsic PEEP) to very smooth, suitable for patients with normal lungs and chest wall, but abnormal respiratory control, or neuromuscular abnormalities. This waveform is combined either with or without elements of proportional assist ventilation (corrected for sudden changes in leak), with servo-control of the minute ventilation to equal or exceed a target ventilation. The latter servo-control has an adjustable gain, so that subjects with for example Cheyne Stokes breathing can be treated using a very high servo gain to over-ride their own waxing and waning patterns; subjects with various central hypoventilation syndromes can be treated with a low servo gain, so that short central apneas are permitted, for example to cough, clear the throat, talk, or roll over in bed, but only if they follow a previous period of high ventilation; and normal subjects are treated with an intermediate gain.
Restating the above in other words:
Note 1: in this second embodiment, the names and symbols used for various quantities may be different to those used in the first embodiment.
Note 2: The term “swing” is used to refer to the difference between desired instantaneous pressure at end inspiration and the desired instantaneous pressure at end expiration.
Note 3: A fuzzy membership function is taken as returning a value between zero for complete nonmembership and unity for complete membership. Fuzzy intersection A AND B is the lesser of A and B, fuzzy union A OR B is the larger of A and B, and fuzzy negation NOT A is 1−A.
Note 4: root(x) is the square root of x, abs(x) is the absolute value of x, sign(x) is −1 if x is negative, and +1 otherwise. An asterisk (*) is used to explicitly indicate multiplication where this might not be obvious from context.
The apparatus for the second embodiment is shown in
The following user adjustable parameters are specified and stored:
At initialization, the following are calculated from the above user-specified settings:
The expected duration of a respiratory cycle, of an inspiration, and of an expiration are set respectively to:
STD T
TOT=60/target respiratory rate
STD T
I
=STD T
TOT
*target duty cycle
STD T
E
STD T
TOT
−STD T
I
The standard rates of change of phase (revolutions per sec) during inspiration and expiration are set respectively to:
STD dφ
I=0.5/STD TI
STD dφ
E=0.5/STD TE
The instantaneous elastic support at any phase φ in the respiratory cycle is given by:
PEL(φ)=swing*π(φ)
where swing is the pressure at end inspiration minus the pressure at end expiration,
π(φ)=e−2τφduring inspiration,
e−4t(φ−0.5)during expiration
and τ is the user-selectable waveform time constant.
If τ=0, then π(φ) is a square wave. The maximum implemented value for τ=0.3, producing a waveform approximately as shown in
The mean value of π(φ) is calculated as follows:
The following is an overview of routine processing done at 50 Hz:
The details of each step will now be explained.
Flow is measured at the outlet of the blower using a pneumotachograph and differential pressure transducer. Pressure is measured at any convenient point between the blower outlet and the mask. A humidifier and/or anti-bacterial filter may be inserted between the pressure sensing port and the blower. Flow and pressure are digitized at 50 Hz using an A/D converter.
The pressure loss from pressure measuring point to mask is calculated from the flow at the blower and the (quadratic) resistance from measuring point to mask.
Hose pressure loss=sign(flow)*hose resistance*flow2
where sign(x)=−1 for x<0, +1 otherwise. The mask pressure is then calculated by subtracting the hose pressure loss from the measured sensor pressure:
Mask pressure=sensor pressure−hose pressure loss
The flow through the mask exhaust diffuser is calculated from the known parabolic resistance of the diffuser holes, and the square root of the mask pressure:
diffuser flow=exhaust resistance*sign(mask pressure)*root(abs(mask pressure))
Finally, the mask flow is calculated:
mask flow=sensor flow−diffuser flow
The foregoing describes calculation of mask pressure and flow in the various treatment modes. In diagnostic mode, the patient is wearing only nasal cannulae, not a mask. The cannula is plugged into the pressure sensing port. The nasal airflow is calculated from the pressure, after a linearization step, and the mask pressure is set to zero by definition.
The conductance of the leak is calculated as follows:
root mask pressure=sign(PMASK)√{right arrow over (abs(PMASK))}
LP mask airflow=low pass filtered mask airflow
LP root mask pressure=low pass filtered root mask pressure
conductance of leak=LP mask airflow/LP root mask pressure
The time constant for the two low pass filtering steps is initialized to 10 seconds and adjusted dynamically thereafter (see below).
The instantaneous flow through the leak is calculated from the instantaneous mask pressure and the conductance of the leak:
instantaneous leak=conductance of leak*root mask pressure
The respiratory airflow is the difference between the flow at the mask and the instantaneous leak:
respiratory airflow=mask flow−instantaneous leak
Low pass filter the respiratory airflow to remove cardiogenic airflow and other noise. The time constant is dynamically adjusted to be 1/40 of the current estimated length of the respiratory cycle TTOT (initialized to STD_TTOT and updated below). This means that at high respiratory rates, there is only a short phase delay introduced by the filter, but at low respiratory rates, there is good rejection of cardiogenic airflow.
The mask is assumed to initially be off. An off-on transition is taken as occurring when the respiratory airflow first goes above 0.2 L/sec, and an on-off transition is taken as occurring if the mask pressure is less than 2 cmH2O for more than 1.5 seconds.
Lead-in is a quantity that runs from zero if the mask is off, or has just been donned, to 1.0 if the mask has been on for 20 seconds or more, as shown in
J is the fuzzy extent to which the impedance of the leak has suddenly changed. It is calculated as the fuzzy extent to which the absolute magnitude of the respiratory airflow is large for longer than expected.
The fuzzy extent AI to which the airflow has been positive for longer than expected is calculated from the time tZI since the last positive-going zero crossing of the calculated respiratory airflow signal, and the expected duration STD TI of a normal inspiration for the particular subject, using the fuzzy membership function shown in
The fuzzy extent BI to which the airflow is large and positive is calculated from the instantaneous respiratory airflow using the fuzzy membership function shown in
The fuzzy extent II to which the leak has suddenly increased is calculated by calculating the fuzzy intersection (lesser) of AI and BI.
Precisely symmetrical calculations are performed for expiration, deriving IE. as the fuzzy extent to which the leak has suddenly decreased. AE is calculated from TZE and TE, BE is calculated from minus fRESP, and IE is the fuzzy intersection of AE and BE. The instantaneous jamming index J is calculated as the fuzzy union (larger) of indices II and IE.
If the instantaneous jamming index is larger than the current value of the recent peak jamming index, then the recent peak jamming index is set to equal the instantaneous jamming index. Otherwise, the recent peak jamming index is set to equal the instantaneous jamming index low pass filtered with a time constant of 10 seconds. An electrical analogy of the calculation is shown in
If the conductance of the leak suddenly changes, then the calculated conductance will initially be incorrect, and will gradually approach the correct value at a rate which will be slow if the time constant of the low pass filters is long, and fast if the time constant is short. Conversely, if the impedance of the leak is steady, the longer the time constant the more accurate the calculation of the instantaneous leak. Therefore, it is desirable to lengthen the time constant to the extent that the leak is steady, reduce the time constant to the extent that the leak has suddenly changed, and to use intermediately longer or shorter time constants if it is intermediately the case that the leak is steady.
If there is a large and sudden increase in the conductance of the leak, then the calculated respiratory airflow will be incorrect. In particular, during apparent inspiration, the calculated respiratory airflow will be large positive for a time that is large compared with the expected duration of a normal inspiration. Conversely, if there is a sudden decrease in conductance of the leak, then during apparent expiration the calculated respiratory airflow will be large negative for a time that is large compared with the duration of normal expiration.
Therefore, the time constant for the calculation of the conductance of the leak is adjusted depending on JPEAK, which is a measure of the fuzzy extent that the leak has recently suddenly changed, as shown in
In operation, to the extent that there has recently been a sudden and large change in the leak, JPEAK will be large, and the time constant for the calculation of the conductance of the leak will be small, allowing rapid convergence on the new value of the leakage conductance. Conversely, if the leak is steady for a long time, JPEAK will be small, and the time constant for calculation of the leakage conductance will be large, enabling accurate calculation of the instantaneous respiratory airflow. In the spectrum of intermediate situations, where the calculated instantaneous respiratory airflow is larger and for longer periods, JPEAK will be progressively larger, and the time constant for the calculation of the leak will progressively reduce. For example, at a moment in time where it is uncertain whether the leak is in fact constant, and the subject has merely commenced a large sigh, or whether in fact there has been a sudden increase in the leak, the index will be of an intermediate value, and the time constant for calculation of the impedance of the leak will also be of an intermediate value. The advantage is that some corrective action will occur very early, but without momentary total loss of knowledge of the impedance of the leak.
The current phase φ runs from 0 for start of inspiration to 0.5 for start of expiration to 1.0 for end expiration=start of next inspiration. Nine separate features (peaks, zero crossings, plateaux, and some intermediate points) are identified on the waveform, as shown in
The filtered respiratory airflow is normalized with respect to the user specified target ventilation as follows:
standard airflow=target ventilation/7.5 L/min
f′=filtered respiratory airflow/standard airflow
Next, the fuzzy membership in fuzzy sets large negative, small negative, zero, small positive, and large positive, describing the instantaneous airflow is calculated using the membership functions shown in
The rate of change of filtered respiratory airflow is calculated and normalized to a target ventilation of 7.5 L/min at 15 breaths/min as follows:
Now evaluate the membership of normalized df/dt in the fuzzy sets falling, steady, and rising, whose membership functions are shown in
Hypopnea is the fuzzy extent to which the normalized ventilation is zero. The membership function for hypopnea is shown in
Recent ventilation is also a low pass filtered abs(respiratory airflow), but filtered with an adjustable time constant, calculated from servo gain (specified by the user) as shown in
Hyperpnea is the fuzzy extent to which the recent ventilation is large. The membership function for hyperpnea is shown in
The fuzzy extent to which there is a big leak is calculated from the membership function shown in
Additional Fuzzy Sets Concerned with Fuzzy “Triggering”
Membership in fuzzy sets switch negative and switch positive are calculated from the normalized respiratory airflow using the membership functions shown in
Procedure W(y) calculates the area of an isosceles triangle of unit height and unit base, truncated at height y as shown in
The first fuzzy rule indicates that lacking any other information the phase is to increase at a standard rate. This rule is unconditionally true, and has a very heavy weighting, especially if there is a large leak, or there has recently been a sudden change in the leak, or there is a hypopnea.
W
STANDARD=8+16*JPEAK+16*hyopopnea+16*big leak
The next batch of fuzzy rules correspond to the detection of various features of a typical flow-vs-time curve. These rules all have unit weighting, and are conditional upon the fuzzy membership in the indicated sets:
WLATE INSP=W(fall AND small positive)
The next rule indicates that there is a legitimate expiratory pause (as opposed to an apnea) if there has been a recent hyperpnea and the leak has not recently changed:
W
PAUSE=(hyperpnea AND NOT JPEAK)*W(steady AND zero)
Recalling that the time constant for hyperpnea gets shorter as servo gain increases, the permitted length of expiratory pause gets shorter and shorter as the servo gain increases, and becomes zero at maximum servo gain. The rationale for this is that (i) high servo gain plus long pauses in breathing will result in “hunting” of the servo-as controller, and (ii) in general high servo gain is used if the subject's chemoreceptor responses are very brisk, and suppression of long apneas or hypopneas will help prevent the subject's own internal servo-control from hunting, thereby helping prevent Cheyne-Stokes breathing.
Finally, there are two phase-switching rules. During regular quiet breathing at roughly the expected rate, these rules should not strongly activate, but they are there to handle irregular breathing or breathing at unusual rates. They have very heavy weightings.
W
TRIG INSP=32W(expiratory phase AND switch positive)
W
TRIG EXP=32W(inspiratory phase AND switch negative)
For each of the ten fuzzy rules above, we attach phase angles φN, as shown in Table ZZZ. Note that φN are in revolutions, not radians. We now place the ten masses W(N) calculated above at the appropriate phase angles φN around the unit circle, and take the centroid.
Note that if the user has entered very short duty cycle, k will be small. For example a normal duty cycle is 40%, giving k=40/60=0.67. Thus the expiratory peak will be associated with a phase angle of 0.5+0.2*0.67=0.63, corresponding 26% of the way into expiratory time, and the expiratory pause would start at 0.5+0.5*0.67=0.83, corresponding to 67% of the way into expiratory time. Conversely, if the duty cycle is set to 20% in a patient with severe obstructive lung disease, features 6 through 10 will be skewed or compressed into early expiration, generating an appropriately longer expiratory pause.
The new estimate of the phase is the centroid, in polar coordinates, of the above ten rules:
The change in phase dφ from the current phase φ to the centroid is calculated in polar coordinates. Thus if the centroid is 0.01 and the current phase is 0.99, the change in phase is dφ=0.02. Conversely, if the centroid is 0.99 and the current phase is 0.01, then dφ=−0.02. The new phase is then set to the centroid:
φ=centroid
This concludes the calculation of the instantaneous phase in the respiratory cycle φ.
If the current phase is inspiratory (φ<0.5) the estimated duration of inspiration TI is updated:
Conversely, if the current phase is expiratory, (φ>=0.5) the estimated duration of expiration TE is updated:
The purpose of the clipping is firstly to prevent division by zero, and also so that the calculated TI and TE are never more than a factor of 4 shorter or a factor of 2 longer than expected.
Finally, the observed mean duration of a breath TTOT and respiratory rate RR are:
T
TOT
=T
I
+T
E
RR=60/TTOT
The resistive unloading is the pressure drop across the patient's upper and lower airways, calculated from the respiratory airflow and resistance values stored in SRAM
The purpose of the instantaneous elastic assistance is to provide a pressure which balances some or all of the elastic deflating pressure supplied by the springiness of the lungs and chest wall (instantaneous elastic pressure), plus an additional component required to servo-control the minute ventilation to at least exceed on average a pre-set target ventilation. In addition, a minimum swing, always present, is added to the total. The user-specified parameter elastance is preset to say 50-75% of the known or estimated elastance of the patient's lung and chest wall. The various components are calculated as follows:
instantaneous minimum assistance=minimum swing*π(φ)
The quantity servo swing is the additional pressure modulation amplitude required to servo-control the minute ventilation to at least equal on average a pre-set target ventilation.
Minute ventilation is defined as the total number of litres inspired or expired per minute. However, we can't wait for a whole minute, or even several seconds, to calculate it, because we wish to be able to prevent apneas or hypopneas lasting even a few seconds, and a PI controller based on an average ventilation over a few seconds would be either sluggish or unstable,
The quantity actually servo-controlled is half the absolute value of the instantaneous respiratory airflow. A simple clipped integral controller with no damping works very satisfactorily. The controller gain and maximum output ramp up over the first few seconds after putting the mask on.
If we have had a sudden increase in mouth leak, airflow will be nonzero for a long time. A side effect is that the ventilation will be falsely measured as well above target, and the amount of servo assistance will be falsely reduced to zero. To prevent this, to the extent that the fuzzy recent peak jamming index is large, we hold the degree of servo assistance at its recent average value, prior to the jamming.
The algorithm for calculating servo swing is as follows:
The instantaneous servo assistance is calculated by multiplying servo swing by the previously calculated pressure waveform template:
instantaneous servo assistance=servo swing*π(φ)
The instantaneous pressure required to unload the elastic work of inspiring against the user-specified elastance is the specified elastance times the instantaneous inspired volume. Unfortunately, calculating instantaneous inspired volume simply by integrating respiratory airflow with respect to time does not work in practice for three reasons: firstly leaks cause explosive run-away of the integration. Secondly, the integrator is reset at the start of each inspiration, and this point is difficult to detect reliably. Thirdly, and crucially, if the patient is making no efforts, nothing will happen.
Therefore, four separate estimates are made, and a weighted average taken.
Estimate 1: Exact Instantaneous Elastic Recoil Calculated from Instantaneous Tidal Volume, with a Correction for Sudden Change in Leak
The first estimate is the instantaneous elastic recoil of a specified elastance at the estimated instantaneous inspired volume, calculated by multiplying the specified elastance by the integral of a weighted respiratory airflow with respect to time, reset to zero if the respiratory phase is expiratory. The respiratory airflow is weighted by the fuzzy negation of the recent peak jamming index JPEAK, to partly ameliorate an explosive run-away of the integral during brief periods of sudden increase in leak, before the leak detector has had time to adapt to the changing leak. In the case where the leak is very steady, JPEAK will be zero, the weighting will be unity, and the inspired volume will be calculated normally and correctly. In the case where the leak increases suddenly, JPEAK will rapidly increase, the weighting will decrease, and although typically the calculated inspired volume will be incorrect, the over-estimation of inspired volume will be ameliorated. Calculations are as follows:
The quantity standard swing is the additional pressure modulation amplitude that would unload the specified elastance for a breath of a preset target tidal volume.
The instantaneous assistance based on the assumption that the elastic work for this breath is similar to that for recent breaths is calculated as follows:
The above algorithm works correctly even if π(φ) is dynamically changed on-the-fly by the user, from square to a smooth or vice versa. For example, if an 8 cmH2O square wave (πBAR=1) adequately assists the patient, then a sawtooth wave (πBAR=0.5) will require 16 cmH2O swing to produce the same average assistance.
Next, calculate the pressure required to unload a best estimate of the actual elastic recoil pressure based on a weighted average of the above. If π(φ) is set to the smoothest setting, the estimate is based equally on all the above estimates of instantaneous elastic recoil. If π(φ) is a square wave, the estimate is based on all the above estimates except for estimate 1, because a square wave is maximal at φ=0, whereas estimate 1 is zero at φ=0. Intermediate waveforms are handled intermediately. Quantity smoothness runs from zero for a square wave to 1 for a waveform time constant of 0.3 or above.
Now add the estimates based on minimum and servo swing, truncate so as not to exceed a maximum swing set by the user. Reduce (lead in gradually) if the mask has only just been put on.
This completes the calculation of instantaneous elastic assistance.
In the final step, the measured pressure at the sensor is servo-controlled to equal the desired sensor pressure, using for example a clipped pseudodifferential controller to adjust the motor current. Reference can be made to
In
The above correct behaviour is also exhibited by a time mode device, but is very different to that of a spontaneous mode bilevel device, or equally of proportional assist ventilation, both of which would fail to cycle after all central apneas, regardless of appropriateness.
In the prior art, phase is taken as a categorical variable, with two values:
inspiration and expiration. Errors in the detection of start of inspiration and start of expiration produce categorical errors in delivered pressure. Conversely, here, phase is treated as a continuous variable having values between zero and unity. Thus categorical errors in measurement of phase are avoided.
By using a short time constant when the subject is breathing rapidly, and a long time constant when the subject is breathing slowly, the filter introduces a fixed phase delay which is always a small fraction of a respiratory cycle. Thus unnecessary phase delays can be avoided, but cardiogenic artifact can be rejected in subjects who are breathing slowly. Furthermore, because phase is treated as a continuous variable, it is possible to largely compensate for the delay in the low pass filter.
With all prior art there is an intrusive discontinuous change in pressure, either at the start of inspiration or at the start of expiration. Here, the pressure change is continuous, and therefore more comfortable.
With proportional assist ventilation, the instantaneous pressure is a function of instantaneous volume into the breath. This means that a sudden large leak can cause explosive pressure run-away. Here, where instantaneous pressure is a function of instantaneous phase rather than tidal volume, this is avoided.
Average inspiratory duration is easier to calculate in the presence of leak than is tidal volume. By taking advantage of a correlation between average inspiratory duration and average tidal volume, it is possible to adjust the amplitude of modulation to suit the average tidal volume.
Although Younes describes the use of a component of pressure proportional to the square of respiratory airflow to unload the resistance of external apparatus, the resistance of the external apparatus in embodiments of the present invention is typically negligible. Conversely, embodiments of the present invention describes two uses for such a component proportional to the square of respiratory airflow that were not anticipated by Younes. Firstly, sleeping subjects, and subjects with a blocked nose, have a large resistance proportional to the square of airflow, and a pressure component proportional to the square of airflow can be used to unload the anatomical upper airway resistance. Secondly, small nonrespiratory airflow components due to heartbeat or other artifact, when squared, produces negligible pressure modulation, so that the use of such a component yields relative immunity to such nonrespiratory airflow.
There is a smooth, seamless gradation from flexibly tracking the subject's respiratory pattern during spontaneous breathing well above the target ventilation, to fully controlling the duration, depth, and phase of breathing if the subject is making no efforts, via a transitional period in which the subject can make progressively smaller changes to the timing and depth of breathing. A smooth transition avoids categorization errors when ventilation is near but not at the desired threshold. The advantage is that the transition from spontaneous to controlled ventilation occurs unobtrusively to the subject. This can be especially important in a subject attempting to go to sleep. A similar smooth transition can occur in the reverse direction, as a subject awakens and resumes spontaneous respiratory efforts.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PO2474 | Sep 1996 | AU | national |
| PCT/AU97/00517 | Aug 1997 | AU | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12621991 | Nov 2009 | US |
| Child | 13238670 | US | |
| Parent | 11372311 | Mar 2006 | US |
| Child | 12621991 | US | |
| Parent | 10801259 | Mar 2004 | US |
| Child | 11372311 | US | |
| Parent | 10188489 | Jul 2002 | US |
| Child | 10801259 | US | |
| Parent | 09549197 | Apr 2000 | US |
| Child | 10188489 | US | |
| Parent | 08935785 | Sep 1997 | US |
| Child | 09549197 | US |
