Hot-thermistor spirometry for the artificial ventilation of infants

This thesis describes equipment and techniques which were developed for use in monitoring mechanical aspects of artificial ventilation and optimising ventilation procedures. A strong emphasis is placed on the clinical applicability of the techniques and clinical applications are discussed. A new temperature-compensated hot-thermistor anemometer/spirometer was developed because the wide variety of spirometers described previously for-measuring respiratory volumes •and volume flow rates were unsatisfactory for routine use in monitoring infant ventilation. The principles of hot-thermistor spirometry were investigated both theoretically and experimental.ly to develop new temperature-compensation techniques and to predict the effect of gas composition changes on spirometer celebration. New electronic circuits were developed which greatly simplify the construction of temperature-compensated hot- thermistor anemometers and extend the dynamic range off low rates that can be measured.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Electrical Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

1982

Author dc:creator

• Hughes, Timothy John

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9974

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9974