An in silico analysis of oxygen uptake of a mild COPD patient during rest and exercise using a portable oxygen concentrator

• Published in: International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 2427 - 2434
• Main Authors: Katz, Ira, Pichelin, Marine, Montesantos, Spyridon, Kang, Min-Yeong, Sapoval, Bernard, Zhu, Kaixian, Thevenin, Charles-Philippe, McCoy, Robert, Martin, Andrew R, Caillibotte, Georges
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2016; Dove Medical Press Ltd; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Biomarkers - blood; Blood; Computer Simulation; Computer-Aided Design; Efficiency; Equipment Design; Exercise; Humans; Lung - physiopathology; Lung diseases, Obstructive; Medical equipment; Morphology; Original Research; Oxygen - blood; oxygen concentrator; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy - instrumentation; Partial differential equations; Patients; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - blood; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - diagnosis; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - therapy; Pulmonary Gas Exchange; pulsed delivery; respiratory disease; respiratory physiology; Rest; Test systems; Time Factors; United States > US; efficiency; pulsed delivery; respiratory disease; respiratory physiology
• ISSN: 1178-2005; 1176-9106; 1178-2005
• DOI: 10.2147/COPD.S112473

Oxygen treatment based on intermittent-flow devices with pulse delivery modes available from portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) depends on the characteristics of the delivered pulse such as volume, pulse width (the time of the pulse to be delivered), and pulse delay (the time for the pulse to be initiated from the start of inhalation) as well as a patient's breathing characteristics, disease state, and respiratory morphology. This article presents a physiological-based analysis of the performance, in terms of blood oxygenation, of a commercial POC at different settings using an in silico model of a COPD patient at rest and during exercise. The analysis encompasses experimental measurements of pulse volume, width, and time delay of the POC at three different settings and two breathing rates related to rest and exercise. These experimental data of device performance are inputs to a physiological-based model of oxygen uptake that takes into account the real dynamic nature of gas exchange to illustrate how device- and patient-specific factors can affect patient oxygenation. This type of physiological analysis that considers the true effectiveness of oxygen transfer to the blood, as opposed to delivery to the nose (or mouth), can be instructive in applying therapies and designing new devices.