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   : l>r.by’s lungs, lacking this "oiling"         ‘     , ssssr   @  
 . substance, are stiff and difficult to open   r .   i P   · ····s   l- ·    ‘l
   . and force air into. The infants have the »_;L  ,    ,,____ ,_- ·-·——`s.. .   ~  __ _ i
   A additional biomechanical liability of       _ ,   ~~r_,       T —         
jj ,» than muscles and a limited energy   /     T  . _;.q;·~¥ t ,  s l    ··=-·    ` 3   _3 ' *°* · i`        J g
  . . . — ._,, s»<;g’·’ ~.;   ·    ~    1 • ·— *T · · *
Q, E supply. Hence, the infants need help in _   L   ·\   _   —..» E   ,. _ jg 5 _-    HI l
   i breathing to survive.     W ’” _ _  " -   _   »r , . < _·- l·· · ·° `··‘ l
'¢‘s¢·*;~ . . . , $-,;:--2 ~ M ·· ,   l ·x. _ f' , »···"7‘ >__g 1 '
   _ The full-term babies in NICU, like    sr _ W _§ , ,___,·__  g y   _ · all i l
   , mlmy premature ones, can be born _ . bw °  "’ ‘ " l  J · ’   _1   _   -   ll
   5* with or quickly develop a respiratory ,   Q `- · ·¤‘a·.·:.:il ‘_ _ __ ·_ .2 Y ;
   » disease such as pneumonia. The result ‘*”` _,__ _ _ ...  r rj fl; as   M ' . — ‘  " ‘ ' ~  
 {"* ; is that the infants must be helped with ~    _    l ‘ -     if  /    
 e  · · *       —».‘ ” l D
 jir  _» oxygen and a ventilator which blows \ . _ g _, g   -.   , V ,|
  V, tiiey puffs of air into their lungs. A \ ·t _ t       
  '»  ` major problem with infant ventilators is t* ” of         *  
Eli tli it while the baby must have the air l `·     ; Rl   , é .  
.  l forced into its lungs, that pressure often » __    ,   F .~s»:;` · /’   °    
c . causes tissue damage. Like an · ii li eff`; —   l       i 3  
l  · or erextended balloon, the 9~lV€Ol1 may Thgmgg Pqoly gs studying r\l|QU irifbms grid the use of high frequency let ventilclors, o mochinc tho?  
J nipturc and allow air to escapc into the forces nar imo the lungs of bobles who otherwise eoulsluw brenlhe. gl
g _ Q  cl est cavity or cause a lung to collapse.  
pr w i         I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I il
  ,_,.-  i dt veloped in the late 1960s and E
 {V dtsigmdtOacCOmmOdatc6_81b· A MORE DELICATE TOUCH NEEDED g E
 V lrlalllso l`lOWeVer> the eXPeelallOrlS rer The dramatic decline in the weight of no match up with how the ventilator i [
V. s · . . . . . • P
 j rl‘~ Survlval Or a Premature baby have babies who are now surviving has made mechanics are set with regard to the 1 `
 l  lllereaseel elramauealllb lll the lale_ the 1960s ventilator equipment obsolete actual lung mechanics." g
Y 19605, Premature bables who Surlflverl for saving these tiny infants. The Beginning their work in 1978, `Q
 ‘ lllilglleel at lcast 3`rl lbS· ln the mld‘*0 amount of pressure needed to expand a Cunningham and Desai spent four  
 - late 1970s, success in saying a 2-3 lb- 5 1b_ infsmys lungs is considerably years building their own pulmonary Q  
3 bi`bY Waslusl Sllerr of a mll;aele· T¤d¤v greater than what is needed for a ll/2 lb. function testing device with the help of : ;l
· ' ‘ ( . . . . . · ·
 . C l¤¤1¤sham SaYS· rrlllere S a 90 infant. As Dr. Cunningham explains, pulmonary specialist Deborah i ‘,
  ll‘ reem Chance Or sllrvlvel rer a 2 lb- "The tolerances and capacity of the Mynheir, computer programmer Diane g  
~  lbiebb We even exbeel a ralr ebabee Or lungs of these infants vary greatly." Gagel, and a consultant, Peter i  
 . , . ' 3 . . . . . v
‘ Slllvlval lbr a l /4 lb· baby and We expect Cunningham and Desai are Burbank, from the UK bioengineering A  
 2 . I . . . . . . ¤
I  lb save el rew Or the l and a l /2 lb- developing methods of application for and medical instrumentation  
 r ' V ’ > . . . .
_,   lll‘arltS· ventilators sensitive enough for use on department. The researchers also `ll
·_ · » . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1l/2 lb. and larger infants and are employed techniques used by the UK `  
  g _ establishing a data base so that College of Pharmacy faculty in  
' if     ° _ physicians can more accurately pulmonary function testing of small  
, .   r   determine the correct setting for the animals. T;
      . \_     ventilator. Presently, physicians set the "I knew nothing about computers or  
X H —_  in   T ‘ , ,       , , i’.__’_ ventilator——choosing pressure, amount electronics and my colleagues knew  
ale ·      l``   `  li ‘ ·  T  `Z,     K     and rate at which the respiratory gases nothing about neorlatology, but  
Q_ _ .`— ,_   t.—4 ~    .»,_ { are administered—based on indirect together we were able to Successfully  
1   ·;_ V   s ’t‘~`       mcthgds Of lung ag5€sment_ As assemble {l’1€ p21I`(S pUI`Cl'l2iS€Cl from  
as  _‘  _,     ·     ..,·   l Cunningham says, "The state of the various companies to reach the  
  l _       art right now is to rely on x—ray pictures minaturization and sensitivity required  
° I     l if of the lungs, blood samples fOI` C&I`bOH to study Our tiny paticntsfr says l  
as  =     ___.l dioxide and oxygen levels, and an Cunningham,  
 `       lil   ‘¤.·   ei examination by stethoscope. There is In 1981, the researchers used the  
‘  . 7 ul<