Reasons a patient may need a ventilator
A ventilator is used to assist in breathing. There is a plethora of reasons that someone can lose their ability to breathe, including from use of certain sedative drugs during anesthesia or effects from disease, to unexpected accidents.
Mechanical ventilators have been designed to support breathing-disabled people with an adequate supply of oxygen. Routine use of ventilators in anesthesia in addition to the COVID pandemic has raised the concerns of how to ensure the risk of cross-contamination and cross-infection between patients and the equipment can be minimized.
How to reduce cross contamination during ventilation?
Breathing system filters can efficiently interrupt the routes of contamination between patients and ventilation equipment if they meet certain requirements:
- Retain airborne contaminations with high efficiency:
- Bacteria and viruses get released from the patients’ lungs in micro-droplets/droplet nuclei
- Stop liquid-borne contamination:
- Condensed water, patient secretions, blood, saliva … may contain micro-organisms, which can lead to cross-infection
- Keep a low flow resistance under the conditions of mechanical ventilation:
- Being challenged with humid gases or water must not lead to blockage or gradual increases in resistance of the filter
The Pall Ultipor™ 50 Breathing System Filter meets and exceeds these criteria:
- High efficiency airborne bacterial, viral, and particulate retention
- Constantly high level of filtration performance over its entire use in humid gases
- Validation for the retention of the SARS-CoV-2 virus*
- 100% barrier to liquid-borne contamination
- Low airflow resistance over the entire product life
- Compatibility with drug nebulisation
*Validated in countries under CE-mark – this claim has not been cleared by the FDA
It is indicated for use at machine end in anaesthesia and intensive care ventilation and for patient side use in anaesthesia.
You can learn more about the Ultipor™ 50 here.
Author bio
Wolfgang Hares, MSc, PhD — Sr. Global Manager Scientific Affairs for Gas Filtration and Respiratory Care
He supports with a range of products, which includes filters for mechanical ventilation, surgical and medical gas applications, and pulmonary function testing. He has held several roles in regional and global marketing functions and holds a MsSc from the University of Cologne and a PhD in biochemistry from the University Hamburg, Germany.