Characteristic of Paddle Squeezing Angle and AMBU Bag Air Volume in Bag Valve Mask Ventilator

TL;DR

This study analyzes how the paddle squeezing angle affects air volume in AMBU bag ventilators, aiming to improve simple, low-cost ventilator design especially useful in low-resource settings during pandemics.

Contribution

It provides experimental insights into the relationship between paddle angle and air volume, enabling better control of manual ventilator functions using motorized mechanisms.

Findings

Paddle squeezing angle influences air volume output.

Optimal angle can be controlled with a DC motor.

Results support design improvements for low-cost ventilators.

Abstract

In the COVID-19 period, the number of deaths has increased every day around the world. The pandemic has impacted the life and economy. Especially, there is a shortage in medical including a lack of technology, facility and equipment. One of those, ventilators are the essential equipment that does not provide enough requirements for the hospital. A ventilator is an essential unit in hospitals because it seems to be the first step to protect the life of the patient getting sick. Some low-income countries aim to make a simple ventilator using locally available and low-cost materials for primary care and palliative care. One of the simple principles of ventilators is to adopt an artificial manual breath unit (AMBU) bag with paddles. Unfortunately, the squeezing angle of paddles is not proportional to the exhaust air volume from the AMBU bag. This paper analyzes the character of the squeezing angle of the paddles and the exhaust air volume of the adult AMBU bag through experiments. The result can be used to control the squeezing angle through a DC motor mounted with paddles to obtain the desired air volume.