-
-
Skip navigation
(Access key: S).
Contact information.
In order to treat obstructive sleep apnea, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices have been developed to deliver air under constant positive pressure to the nasal passages during sleep. The goal of this project is to design and fabricate a drug nebulizer to work in line with a CPAP machine to help sleep apnea and asthma patients. It must also function within a hospital ventilator circuit. It must be adjustable to main unit airflow and programmable for different times and durations of administration during an 8-hour sleep cycle. The drugs that the nebulizer must aerosolize will be bronchodilators, such as Albuterol Sulfate.
Please visit our BME 400 page from the Fall 2009 semester for information on previous work for this ongoing design project.
PROJECT TEAM: BME 402, Spring 2010
From left to right: Anne Loevinger, Steve Welch, Joe Decker, Patrick Kurkiewicz, and Ryan Kimmel
The semester is over, and we received an honorable mention for our design among the BME senior class. Our ultrasonic nebulizer runs with a two-fold increase in efficiency over conventional ultrasonic nebulizers. The program works very well, but adjustments need to be made to consistently predict breathing threshold. Next we will take the necessary steps to submit an invention disclosure, send in a paper to a scientific journal, secure a patent, and finally to obtain approval to conduct clinical trials.
Figure 1. Block Diagram for Nebulizer Operation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 2. Assembled Ultrasonic Nebulizer
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 3. User Interface Program Front Panel
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 22 | Determined team roles, discussed issues with old prototype, and researched for new design |
| 2 | January 29 | Met with client, constructed 2nd generation prototype |
| 3 | February 5 | Albuterol dosage research, met with pulmonary specialist, 3rd generation prototype design |
| 4 | February 12 | Construction of 3rd generation prototype, efficiency calculations, toxicology research |
| 5 | February 19 | Completed construction of prototype, developed timing program |
| 6 | February 26 | Tested new prototype, added a removable liquid component, constructed table to encourage efficient nebulization and to protect the circuitry, prepared for mid-semester presentation |
| 7 | March 5 | Mid-semester presentations, proposed alternative airflow chamber designs |
| 8 | March 12 | Observed nebulization rate, ideas for splash guards, developed a pressure sensor |
| 9 | March 19 | Constructed possible splash guards, finished program that incorporates the pressure sensor |
| 10 | March 26 | SPRING BREAK |
| 11 | April 2 | Tested splash guards, obtained medical adhesives, wrote testing protocols, constructed funneling ramps |
| 12 | April 9 | Calculated nebulization rate, developed a drug container that sits inside the fluid reservoir, tested drug container |
| 13 | April 16 | Added Teflon coating, fixed lingering issues, decided on film barrier method, prepared for further testing |
| 14 | April 23 | Tested albuterol delivery to the mask, made improvements to the programming, worked on deliverables |
| 15 | April 30 | Constructed nebulizer housing, finished deliverables, final presentations |
 |
Mid-Semester Presentation (May 8 2010, 1104 kb) |
|
Testing Protocol (May 8 2010, 87 kb) |
|
Final Poster (May 8 2010, 510 kb) |
|
Journal Report (May 8 2010, 664 kb) |
|
Final Report (May 8 2010, 874 kb) |
