Lung Simulation Projects


Lung Simulation at R. M. Baldwin, Inc.

We have a long-standing interest in Lung Simulation and constantly work to develop new simulation methods and tools.  We welcome opportunities for cooperative efforts to develop new simulation technologies, and we are available to apply our decades of experience to helping you develop lung simulation solutions that meet your needs and surpass all expectations.  Our product and services include:

Why simulate the lungs?

Simulation of the human pulmonary physiology is a rich and interesting field, with a long history but which is in many ways still in its infancy.  The human cardio-respiratory system is made up of many different subsystems and interrelated processes and as such requires a multi-disciplinary approach for accurate simulation.  Due to the complexity of the real-world system, simulations help us isolate key behaviors for concentrated study or for testing devices and therapeutic techniques.  Lung simulations have been used effectively to help engineers develop new ventilators and other Respiratory Care equipment, for the calibration, Quality Control, and maintenence of ventilators, and for training medical professionals of all types in the proper application of respiratory therapies.

Applications High Fidelity Simulators Active Simulators Passive Simulators

Links to other Lung Simulation resources
Link to Lung Simulation Article - RT Magazine

Lung Simulation Applications

Current and developing applications for lung simulators include:

Ventilator testing

Proper ventilator testing requires both precise instrumentation and a means for applying realistic loads to the machine under test.  We build lung simulation systems that include integrated sensors and associated analysis software to meet a full array of testing applications, including:

  • Product Performance Verification / Process Validation
  • Preventive Maintenance Testing
  • Process Control / Quality Control
  • Service / Repair / Troubleshooting / Forensic Investigation
  • Calibration and Certification

Respiratory Care Research

Ventilator Research & Development - Academic Research - most modes of ventilation are intended for use with spontaneously breathing patients, and these modes grow more complex with each new innovation.  Adequately evaluating new modes, assessing ventilator performance and training practitioners to effectively apply these modes requires increasingly sophisticated, high fidelity, active breathing simulators.  We have developed simulators for use in evaluating, testing, and training for many types of ventilation, including:

  • ARIS
  • PSV / VSV
  • IMV / SIMV
  • CPAP / Bi-PAP

Education

All facets of medical education are embracing Medical Simulation as a key means of improving the educational experience by providing more hands-on training, controlling costs, and increasing objectiviity.  This is particularly true in the fields of Respiratory Care, Anesthesiology, and Emergency Medicine.  Our simulators provide an unparalleled level of realism and precision to the education, competency assessment, and certification of health care professionals.  We have built simulators used in a variety of medical simulation applications including:

  • Respiratory Therapist training
  • Health Care Professional Continuing Education
  • Competency Testing,  Certification, and Accreditation
  • Patient Simulators: Systems representing the pulmonary physiology for larger, complete patient simulation systems
  • Task Trainers: Demonstration and training in the use of specific equipment / techniques

 
Physical Lung Simulators

Physical Lung Simulators include test lungs, both passive and active, and may demonstrate varying levels of fidelity to the real-world physiologic systems they are meant to represent.  R. M. Baldwin, Inc. deals primarily in the development of Application-Specific Lung Simulation Systems, but we have also developed a number of more general purpose designs that are now in products offered by client companies and sold throughout the world, such as the Michigan Instruments, Inc. TTL® PneuView® Training and Test Lungs. 

 

The key components of a High Fidelity Active Lung Simulator include:

  • Dynamic compliance control
  • Dynamic resistance control
  • Breath effort control
  • Adjustable Residual Volume
  • Volume position, pressure and temperature sensors
  • Analysis software and host PC

 

One implementation of an active lung simulator: A pneumatically powered, electronically controlled system capable of driving ventilators to their design limits in all operational modes.

 

 

Other high fidelity active lung simulators are available from:

 

Hans Rudolf 1101 Series Breathing Lung Simulator

IngMar Medical (ASL 5000)

Laerdal SimMan

METI Human Patient Simulator

 

Some general purpose active lung simulators are available from:

 

IngMar Medical (SB 2000)

Michigan Instruments, Inc. (Breath Simulation Module)

VacuMed

 

Examples of commercially available, passive, Test Lungs:

 

IngMar Medical (QuickLung®)

Manley Test Lung

Michigan Instruments, Inc. (PneuView® TTL® Training & Test Lungs)

 

Application-Specific Design: Buried Victim Lung Simulator

Not all Lung Simulators are developed for ventilator testing or training.  This system was developed to simulate a patient trapped underground, such as in snow following an avalanche or buried in rubble.  Instruments capable of measuring the motion and changing dielectric properties of a victim buried far beneath the surface are tested and their operators trained using this special simulator developed by R. M. Baldwin, Inc.

 

 

Instrumentation package developed for use with an Emergency Ventilation task trainer

We develop custom pressure, motion and temperature instrumentation to meet specific client needs, whether for  incorporation into products or for specific, one-of-a-kind applications.

 

 

Software packages designed to acquire, analyze, store and present data taken from lung simulator instrumentation

 

   

 

Ventilator, Breathing Circuit and Support Systems Performance Testing

 

Comparative Evaluation of 12 Candidate CPAP Circuit Designs

Characteristics of Endotracheal Tube airways and Standardized Resistors used for testing and simulation

Characteristics of Endotracheal and Tracheostomy Tubes
© 2005 R. M. Baldwin, Inc.
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