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PulmoTech was founded in 2018 on the basis to improve care for critically ill patients on (mechanical) ventilation.

Adult intensive care patients in various levels of respiratory distress have difficulties breathing spontaneously and oftentimes require respiratory support. Mechanical ventilation is a frequently applied treatment on the ICU, impacting 20-50% of admitted patients.

Ventilation management aims to find a balance between support of the ventilator and the effort of the patient. If excess support is given, the muscle mass of the diaphragm can decrease, increasing the risk of not being able to sustain spontaneous breathing while in the process of deliberating the patient from the ventilator. Contrarily, lack of support will result in desaturation and crash of the patient. Additionally, under support can result in cyclic collapse of the lungs, while over support results in overdistention, potentially contributing to lung damage.

Current sensor technologies, such as spirometry, are placed outside the human body, in the ventilator (system), making it impossible to directly measure pressures inside the body, and to give a good surrogate for pressure in the lung. This is a problem, specifically because these patients are already in distress and cannot receive the treatment they need on an individual level. As patients are generally assessed once per day by the complete team, incorrect ventilator settings can have a disadvantageous impact on the patient.

Our position paper on esophageal pressure measurements is available here.

intelligent Esophageal Pressure Catheter (iEPC)

The iEPC measures esophageal pressure inside the human body, in the same compartment as the lungs, directly influenced by the respiratory muscles (diaphragm and intercostals).

With our catheter we are able to provide the following:

  • Combination of esophageal pressure measurements with the administration of enteral feeding within one device;
  • Easy-to-use system: measurements can be initiated after zeroing, with just one press on a button;
  • No difficult calibration or volume titration methods prior to each measurement;
  • Solid-state transducer (sensor) enables in-situ and continuous measurements of esophageal pressure;
  • Connectability through intelligent Esophageal Pressure Measurement System (iEPMS) to Philips Intellivue systems.

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