Modeling the Flow Dynamics of the Ostreavent™II using Scilab

ABSTRACT

The global pandemic declared by the WHO in March 2020 made urgent the need for an affordable adult ventilator for the Philippine market. An existing low-cost infant ventilator developed by Dr. Enrique Ostrea Jr was redesigned and upgraded into one suitable for adult use. A team of Doctors, Engineers, and Technicians was gathered to work on the project. The team was tasked to develop a low-cost, pressure- and volume-controlled ventilator suitable for adult and infant use in the shortest possible time. A model of the ventilator was created using the simulation software Scilab. The model was used to predict its behavior and guide the design of the ventilator. Experiments were conducted to validate the results from the model. It was found that the model satisfactorily predicted the dynamics of the flow inside the ventilator. The modeling and validation activities helped us build the new low-cost ventialtor in less than four months. © 2021 IEEE.