Automated Control of Mechanical Ventilation During General Anaesthesia

Smart Vent Control (SVC) was designed to automatically control the following ventilator settings: mechanical breathing frequency, inspiratory pressure, pressure support, inspiratory time, trigger sensitivity. SVC adjusts the ventilator settings with the aim to keep a patient stable in a target zone (TZ). Numerous predefined TZs exist that can be set according to the current therapeutic situation. All TZs are adoptable by the user for each individual patient and consist of upper and lower limits for tidal volume and for the partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (PetCO2). Based on these limits, the system classifies the current quality of ventilation, called Classification of Ventilation, and derives new ventilator settings accordingly. SVC is available as a software option on Zeus Infinity Empowered anesthesia machines (Drägerwerk AG \& Co. KGAa, Lübeck, Germany) and is approved as a medical product according to 93/42/European Economic Community.