FiO2 Delivered By a Turbine Portable Ventilator with an Oxygen Concentrator in an Austere Environment

BackgroundManagement of critically ill patients in austere environments is a logistic challenge. Availability of oxygen cylinders for the mechanically ventilated patient may be difficult in such a context. A solution is to use a ventilator able to function with an oxygen concentrator.ObjectivesWe tested the SeQual Integra™ (SeQual, San Diego, CA) 10-OM oxygen concentrator paired with the Pulmonetic System® LTV 1000 ventilator (Pulmonetic Systems, Minneapolis, MN) and evaluated the delivered fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) across a range of minute volumes and combinations of ventilator settings.MethodsTwo LTV 1000 ventilators were tested. The ventilators were attached to a test lung and FiO2 was measured by a gas analyzer. Continuous-flow oxygen was generated by the OC from 0.5 L/min to 10 L/min and injected into the oxygen inlet port of the LTV 1000. Several combinations of ventilator settings were evaluated to determine the factors affecting the delivered FiO2.ResultsThe LTV 1000 ventilator is a turbine ventilator that is able to deliver high FiO2 when functioning with an oxygen concentrator. However, modifications of the ventilator settings such as increase in minute ventilation affect delivered FiO2 even if oxygen flow is constant on the oxygen concentrator.ConclusionsThe ability of an oxygen concentrator to deliver high FiO2 when used with a turbine ventilator makes this method of oxygen delivery a viable alternative to cylinders in austere environments when used with a turbine ventilator. However, FiO2 has to be monitored continuously because delivered FiO2 decreases when minute ventilation is increased.