Design of MEMS Based Piezo-Resistive Sensor for Measuring Pressure in Endo-Tracheal Tube

Mechanical ventilation is the process of providing artificial breathing support to a patient. More than half of critically ill patients require mechanical ventilation[1]. Though mechanical ventilation increases time for recuperation, it is known to have given rise to complications arising from over-distention of lungs leading to ventilator associated lung injury (VALI) and ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). This paper aims to develop a sensor to identify breathing efforts initiated by the patient and give back responses to the ventilator to regulate ventilation modes and tidal volumes delivered by the ventilator. This will significantly aid in reducing asynchrony between the patient efforts and the ventilator input, thus preventing lung injury. Towards this end, we have simulated and studied the effect of different kinds of dynamic loading and diaphragm membrane thickness of the sensor on its sensitivity on a basic design.