Project description:BACKGROUND:Volume-controlled ventilation has been suggested to optimize lung deposition during nebulization although promoting spontaneous ventilation is targeted to avoid ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction. Comparing topographic aerosol lung deposition during volume-controlled ventilation and spontaneous ventilation in pressure support has never been performed. The aim of this study was to compare lung deposition of a radiolabeled aerosol generated with a vibrating-mesh nebulizer during invasive mechanical ventilation, with two modes: pressure support ventilation and volume-controlled ventilation. METHODS:Seventeen postoperative neurosurgery patients without pulmonary disease were randomly ventilated in pressure support or volume-controlled ventilation. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid labeled with technetium-99m (2 mCi/3 mL) was administrated using a vibrating-mesh nebulizer (Aerogen Solo(®), provided by Aerogen Ltd, Galway, Ireland) connected to the endotracheal tube. Pulmonary and extrapulmonary particles deposition was analyzed using planar scintigraphy. RESULTS:Lung deposition was 10.5 ± 3.0 and 15.1 ± 5.0 % of the nominal dose during pressure support and volume-controlled ventilation, respectively (p < 0.05). Higher endotracheal tube and tracheal deposition was observed during pressure support ventilation (27.4 ± 6.6 vs. 20.7 ± 6.0 %, p < 0.05). A similar penetration index was observed for the right (p = 0.210) and the left lung (p = 0.211) with both ventilation modes. A high intersubject variability of lung deposition was observed with both modes regarding lung doses, aerosol penetration and distribution between the right and the left lung. CONCLUSIONS:In the specific conditions of the study, volume-controlled ventilation was associated with higher lung deposition of nebulized particles as compared to pressure support ventilation. The clinical benefit of this effect warrants further studies. Clinical trial registration NCT01879488.
Project description:Ventilation is of primary concern for maintaining healthy indoor air quality and reducing the spread of airborne infectious disease, including COVID-19. In addition to building-level guidelines, increased attention is being placed on room-level ventilation. However, for many universities and schools, ventilation data on a room-by-room basis are not available for classrooms and other key spaces. We present an overview of approaches for measuring ventilation along with their advantages and disadvantages. We also present data from recent case studies for a variety of institutions across the United States, with various building ages, types, locations, and climates, highlighting their commonalities and differences, and examples of the use of this data to support decision making.
Project description:BACKGROUNDThis systematic review aimed to assess inhaled drug delivery in mechanically ventilated patients or in animal models. Whole lung and regional deposition and the impact of the ventilator circuit, the artificial airways and the administration technique for aerosol delivery were analyzed.METHODSIn vivo studies assessing lung deposition during invasive mechanical ventilation were selected based on a systematic search among four databases. Two investigators independently assessed the eligibility and the risk of bias.RESULTSTwenty-six clinical and ten experimental studies were included. Between 30% and 43% of nominal drug dose was lost to the circuit in ventilated patients. Whole lung deposition of up to 16% and 38% of nominal dose (proportion of drug charged in the device) were reported with nebulizers and metered-dose inhalers, respectively. A penetration index inferior to 1 observed in scintigraphic studies indicated major proximal deposition. However, substantial concentrations of antibiotics were measured in the epithelial lining fluid (887 (406-12,819) ?g/mL of amikacin) of infected patients and in sub-pleural specimens (e.g., 197 ?g/g of amikacin) dissected from infected piglets, suggesting a significant distal deposition. The administration technique varied among studies and may explain a degree of the variability of deposition that was observed.CONCLUSIONSLung deposition was lower than 20% of nominal dose delivered with nebulizers and mostly occurred in proximal airways. Further studies are needed to link substantial concentrations of antibiotics in infected pulmonary fluids to pulmonary deposition. The administration technique with nebulizers should be improved in ventilated patients in order to ensure an efficient but safe, feasible and reproducible technique.
Project description:BackgroundAs researchers race to understand the nature of COVID-19 transmission, healthcare institutions must treat COVID-19 patients while also safeguarding the health of staff and other patients. One aspect of this process involves mitigating aerosol transmission of the SARS-CoV2 virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides general guidance on airborne contaminant removal, but directly measuring aerosol clearance in clinical rooms provides empirical evidence to guide clinical procedure.AimWe present a risk-assessment approach to empirically measuring and certifying the aerosol clearance time (ACT) in operating and procedure rooms to improve hospital efficiency while also mitigating the risk of nosocomial infection.MethodsRooms were clustered based on physical and procedural parameters. Sample rooms from each cluster were randomly selected and tested by challenging the room with aerosol and monitoring aerosolized particle concentration until 99.9% clearance was achieved. Data quality was analysed and aerosol clearance times for each cluster were determined.FindingsOf the 521 operating and procedure rooms considered, 449 (86%) were issued a decrease in clearance time relative to CDC guidance, 32 (6%) had their clearance times increased, and 40 (8%) remained at guidance. The average clearance time change of all rooms assessed was a net reduction of 27.8%.ConclusionThe process described here balances the need for high-quality, repeatable data with the burden of testing in a functioning clinical setting. Implementation of this approach resulted in a reduction in clearance times for most clinical rooms, thereby improving hospital efficiency while also safeguarding patients and staff.
Project description:Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is external support for respiration to assist breathing in case of respiratory failure (either hypercapnic or hypoxemic) without patient intubation. Nowadays, medicated aerosols are normally delivered to mechanically ventilated patients by nebulizers and pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) attached to adapter or spacer that fit into the ventilated circuit. Studies with obstructive lung disease patients have shown that aerosol delivery during mechanical ventilation is possible and of benefit. There are several models for investigating the aerosol delivery and deposition during mechanical ventilation such as in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo models, these models depend on the technique used for quantitative or qualitative measurement of the deposited aerosol. In vitro models could be used for calculating the total emitted doses from different aerosol-generating devices or for aerodynamic characterization of the deposited inhaled medications. In vivo models dependents of extracting drugs from biological samples for measuring its concentration and bioavailability (pharmacokinetic model) or be dependent on the imaging technique of the radioactive aerosol. Applying different methods to predict aerosol efficiency before starting NIV and to quantify aerosol delivery during NIV are promising approaches that guide clinicians to avoid treatment failure before and during patient therapy.
Project description:Electronic cigarette, or vaping, products are used to heat an e-liquid to form an aerosol (liquid droplets suspended in gas) that the user inhales; a portion of this aerosol deposits in their respiratory tract and the remainder is exhaled, thereby potentially creating opportunity for secondhand exposure to bystanders (e.g., in homes, automobiles, and workplaces). Particle size, a critical factor in respiratory deposition (and therefore potential for secondhand exposure), could be influenced by e-liquid composition. Hence, the purposes of this study were to (1) test the influence of laboratory-prepared e-liquid composition [ratio of propylene glycol (PG) to vegetable glycerin (VG) humectants, nicotine, and flavorings] on particle size distribution and (2) model respiratory dosimetry. All e-liquids were aerosolized using a second-generation reference e-cigarette. We measured particle size distribution based on mass using a low-flow cascade impactor (LFCI) and size distribution based on number using real-time mobility sizers. Mass median aerodynamic diameters (MMADs) of aerosol from e-liquids that contained only humectants were significantly larger compared with e-liquids that contained flavorings or nicotine (p = 0.005). Humectant ratio significantly influenced MMADs; all aerosols from e-liquids prepared with 70:30 PG:VG were significantly larger compared with e-liquids prepared with 30:70 PG:VG (p = 0.017). In contrast to the LFCI approach, the high dilution and sampling flow rate of a fast mobility particle sizer strongly influenced particle size measurements (i.e., all calculated MMAD values were < 75 nm). Dosimetry modeling using LFCI data indicated that a portion of inhaled particles will deposit throughout the respiratory tract, though statistical differences in aerosol MMADs among e-liquid formulations did not translate into large differences in deposition estimates. A portion of inhaled aerosol will be exhaled and could be a source for secondhand exposure. Use of laboratory-prepared e-liquids and a reference e-cigarette to standardize aerosol generation and a LFCI to measure particle size distribution without dilution represents an improved method to characterize physical properties of volatile aerosol particles and permitted determination of MMAD values more representative of e-cigarette aerosol in situ, which in turn, can help to improve dose modeling for users and bystanders.
Project description:BackgroundsTo explain the excess cardiovascular mortality observed in the SERVE-HF study, it was hypothesized that the high-pressure ASV default settings used lead to inappropriate ventilation, cascading negative consequences (i.e. not only pro-arrythmogenic effects through metabolic/electrolyte abnormalities, but also lower cardiac output). The aims of this study are: i) to describe ASV-settings for long-term ASV-populations in real-life conditions; ii) to describe the associated minute-ventilations (MV) and therapeutic pressures for servo-controlled-flow versus servo-controlled-volume devices (ASV-F Philips®-devices versus ASV-V ResMed®-devices).MethodsThe OTRLASV-study is a cross-sectional, 5-centre study including patients who underwent ASV-treatment for at least 1 year. The eight participating clinicians were free to adjust ASV settings, which were compared among i) initial diagnosed sleep-disordered-breathing (SBD) groups (Obstructive-Sleep-Apnea (OSA), Central-Sleep-Apnea (CSA), Treatment-Emergent-Central-Sleep-Apnea (TECSA)), and ii) unsupervised groups (k-means clusters). To generate these clusters, baseline and follow-up variables were used (age, sex, body mass index (BMI), initial diagnosed Obstructive-Apnea-Index, initial diagnosed Central-Apnea-Index, Continuous-Positive-Airway-Pressure used before ASV treatment, presence of cardiopathy, and presence of a reduced left-ventricular-ejection-fraction (LVEF)). ASV-data were collected using the manufacturer's software for 6 months.ResultsOne hundred seventy-seven patients (87.57% male) were analysed with a median (IQ25-75) initial Apnea-Hypopnea-Index of 50 (38-62)/h, an ASV-treatment duration of 2.88 (1.76-4.96) years, 61.58% treated with an ASV-V. SDB groups did not differ in ASV settings, MV or therapeutic pressures. In contrast, the five generated k-means clusters did (generally described as follows: (C1) male-TECSA-cardiopathy, (C2) male-mostly-CSA-cardiopathy, (C3) male-mostly-TECSA-no cardiopathy, (C4) female-mostly-elevated BMI-TECSA-cardiopathy, (C5) male-mostly-OSA-low-LVEF). Of note, the male-mostly-OSA-low-LVEF-cluster-5 had significantly lower fixed end-expiratory-airway-pressure (EPAP) settings versus C1 (p = 0.029) and C4 (p = 0.007). Auto-EPAP usage was higher in the male-mostly-TECSA-no cardiopathy-cluster-3 versus C1 (p = 0.006) and C2 (p < 0.001). MV differences between ASV-F (p = 0.002) and ASV-V (p < 0.001) were not homogenously distributed across clusters, suggesting specific cluster and ASV-algorithm interactions. Individual ASV-data suggest that the hyperventilation risk is not related to the cluster nor the ASV-monitoring type.ConclusionsReal-life ASV settings are associated with combinations of baseline and follow-up variables wherein cardiological variables remain clinically meaningful. At the patient level, a hyperventilation risk exists regardless of cluster or ASV-monitoring type, spotlighting a future role of MV-telemonitoring in the interest of patient-safety.Trial registrationThe OTRLASV study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02429986 ). 1 April 2015.
Project description:The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused millions of infections and deaths despite mitigation efforts that involve physical distancing, mask-wearing, avoiding indoor gatherings and increasing indoor ventilation. The purpose of this study was to compare ways to improve indoor ventilation and assess its effect on artificially generated aerosol counts. It was hypothesized that inbuilt kitchen vents would be more effective in reducing indoor aerosol counts than opening windows alone. A fixed amount of saline aerosol was dispersed in the experimental area using a nebulizer under constant temperature and a narrow range of humidity. A laser air quality monitor was used to record small particle counts every 30 minutes from baseline to 120 minutes for four different experimental groups for each combination of kitchen vents and windows. The results of the study demonstrate that aerosol counts were lowest with the kitchen exhaust vents on. This study suggests that liberal use of home exhaust systems like the kitchen vents could achieve significantly more air exchange than open windows alone and may present an effective solution to improving indoor ventilation, especially during the colder months when people tend to congregate indoors in closed spaces. There were no safety concerns involved when conducting this experiment.