Virtual Patients for Managing Mechanical Ventilation in the ICU

Abstract

— Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a primary therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU). Sub-optimal ventilator settings can cause lung damage, but optimal selection is confounded by significant inter- and intra- patient variability in response to MV. Titrating PEEP (positive end expiratory pressure) to minimum elastance is a proven approach. However, in clinical practice finding this value is difficult. A predictive elastance model, or virtual patient, would directly assess a current PEEP level should be changed based on whether a nearby PEEP had lower elastance, as well as enable safe PEEP titration. A predictive, virtual patient model for MV in the ICU is presented.