An advanced software option for mechanical ventilation, the PAV Proportional Assist Ventilation Plus delivers positive airway pressure that is directly related to a patient’s inspiratory effort during spontaneous breathing. Ventilator support increases as patient demand increases, optimizing the patient’s contribution to the total work of breathing.
The feature, available from Puritan Bennett for its 840 ventilator, augments the benefits of the basic technique by employing a sophisticated software algorithm that automatically adjusts the positive airway pressure based on measurements taken throughout the inspiratory cycle. This maintains a targeted degree of support pressure throughout each of the patient’s spontaneous breaths.
An appropriate support pressure is maintained based on the workload a patient needs to overcome to breathe. At a setting of 60 percent, the ventilator performs 60 percent of the work of inspiration and the patient performs 40 percent. It also displays real-time assessments of patient work, airway resistance and lung compliance.