Modelling of respiratory mechanics during cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Abstract: Cardiac arrest is a common cause of death. Medical treatment consists of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, comprising chest compressions and ventilation (both of which can be either manually or automatically provided) to recover the normal functioning of the heart. A good modelling of the process is essential to be able to study different current methods, providing a better understanding of the process itself and, therefore, furthering the developing of new and better cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques. This thesis aims to model respiratory mechanics during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Two different ventilation methods (continuous insufflation of oxygen, CIO, and phase-controlled intermittent intratracheal insufflation of oxygen, PIIO) are simulated and compared in two different simulation models based on the RIC and Mead electrical circuits models. Although the developed models are simple, they capture some fundamental physiological differences between the ventilation methods, previously observed in porcine studies. To make a reliable quantitative comparison, further data on which to base ventilation and chest compression augmentations of the considered respiratory mechanics models is required.