Abstract
Bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP) is a minimally invasive respiratory support for neonates experiencing respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). It exerts continuous, oscillatory air pressure to encourage lung function and development. Neonates? movement may cause disconnections at the nasal interface. These disconnections are characterized by the cessation of bubbling at the bCPAP respiratory circuit output and frequently go unnoticed until hypoxia develops. Common Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) bCPAP systems lack a built-in alarm or accessory device to monitor for disconnections. As a result, nursing personnel must exercise extreme caution utilizing current bCPAP procedure. If a neonate is disconnected, it may go unnoticed for 4 hours or more, depending on nurse availability and rounding schedules. To solve this issue, we propose a novel vibration-based detection apparatus to augment existing bCPAP systems that immediately alert clinicians on the cessation of bubbling in the bCPAP water canister. Our independent monitoring system can assure staff that neonates will not develop hypoxia-related complications due to bCPAP failure. Preliminary benchtop testing with a model bCPAP system indicates that the monitor is effective in detecting bubbling cessation under simulated bCPAP operation conditions, in the pressure range of 5 to 10 cmH2O. The monitor detected disconnections in an average of 4.22 seconds across all setting trials, minimizing the time to intervention. While this study was limited to benchtop testing, our initial findings indicate that an accessory bubbling monitor allows for early detection of bCPAP disconnections with future utility in the NICU.
