RATIONALE Mechanical ventilation is known to induce ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction. Patients submitted to mechanical ventilation often receive massive doses of corticosteroids that may cause further deterioration of diaphragm function. OBJECTIVES To examine whether the combination of 24 hours of controlled mechanical ventilation with corticosteroid administration would exacerbate ve...

In this paper, a novel method to generate electrical energy by converting available mechanical energy from pressure fluctuations of the cerebrospinal fluid within lateral ventricles of the brain is presented. The generated electrical power can be supplied to the neural implants and either eliminate their battery need or extend the battery lifespan. A diaphragm type harvester comprised of piezoe...

Previous studies indicate that Matricaria chamomilla (MC), a folk remedy plant, is very useful in the treatment of spasmogenic bowel diseases but the way of its action is not clear. For this purpose, we studied the effect of MC extract on the electrically activation in Guinea-Pig ileum in an invitro model. We used guinea pig in this study. After of kill, we brouhght out a piece of ileum and fix...

BACKGROUND Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a new mode of mechanical ventilation that delivers ventilatory assist in proportion to the electrical activity of the diaphragm. This study aimed to compare the ventilatory and gas exchange effects between NAVA and pressure support ventilation (PSV) during the weaning phase of critically ill patients who required mechanical ventilation s...

OBJECTIVES The value of visual inspection of ventilator waveforms in detecting patient-ventilator asynchronies in the intensive care unit has never been systematically evaluated. This study aims to assess intensive care unit physicians' ability to identify patient-ventilator asynchronies through ventilator waveforms. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Intensive care unit of a U...

447 September 2014 “ EXPIRATION and slow decrease of light together reaching minimum together ... in about 10 s and immediately cry as before. Silence and hold for about 5 s.” In the script for his late play “Breath,” Samuel Beckett conveys in sound and light his awareness of long and vital expiratory times. His personal experience with emphysema might have provided some of the inspiration. In ...

BACKGROUND Propofol is increasingly used during partial support mechanical ventilation such as pressure support ventilation (PSV) in postoperative patients. However, breathing pattern, respiratory drive, and patient-ventilator synchrony are affected by the sedative used and the sedation depth. The present study aimed to evaluate the physiologic effects of varying depths of propofol sedation on ...

BACKGROUND Auto-positive end-expiratory pressure (auto-PEEP) may substantially increase the inspiratory effort during assisted mechanical ventilation. Purpose of this study was to assess whether the electrical activity of the diaphragm (EAdi) signal can be reliably used to estimate auto-PEEP in patients undergoing pressure support ventilation and neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) and ...

OBJECTIVES Reduction of breathing variability is associated with adverse outcome. During mechanical ventilation, the variability of ventilatory pressure is dependent on the ventilatory mode. During neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA), the support is proportional to electrical activity of the diaphragm (EAdi), which reflects the respiratory center output. The variability of EAdi is, ther...

Calcium (Ca2+), strontium (Sr2+), and barium (Ba2+) are expected to exert similar chemical and pharmacological effects. The effects of barium, strontium and calcium were studied on the contractions of rat phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparations, following electrical stimulation and their interactions with nifedipine (nif) and diltiazem (DZM) were also studied. Low doses of strontium chloride (SrCl...