Everyone suffering with respiratory failure fights a battle to breathe every day. Weinmann, the Hamburg-based medical technology company, is introducing an "intelligent" home ventilation system that actually anticipates a patient's every breath as it works to increase breathing capacity.

Weinmann's VENTIlogic is a home mechanical ventilator whose patented TAV (Timed-Adaptive Ventilation) mode anticipates the patient's respiratory pattern and thus significantly increases therapy compliance.

Often, someone with a weakened respiratory pump "fights" the ventilator by unconsciously breathing against the rhythm of the ventilator, which puts a greater strain on the respiratory pump. This "fighting" can be so unpleasant for the patient, that therapeutic use declines.

"A potentially high unloading of the respiratory pump was often connected in the past with low therapeutic effectiveness," notes Jorg Mielenz, Weinmann product and ventilation specialist. "Ventilators that are triggered by the patient's spontaneous breathing are found to be more pleasant, however, relieve the respiratory muscles to a lesser extent and lead to hyperventilation of the patient."

For the first time, the TA mode in VENTIlogic makes it possible to combine high compliance of spontaneous ventilation modes with high unloading (90%) of controlled ventilation modes.

When combined with the new oxygen valve, VENTI-02 plus, VENTIlogic can safely and reliably provide up to 15 liters of oxygen per patient, for example, during a weaning phase.

According to Weinmann, the device fulfills the requirements of the current ISO EN 60601-1 norm for fire protection even as it delivers large volumes of oxygen. For compliance purposes, the air-tightness of the air and oxygen conducting components in the device was improved, an optimized power unit was installed and new fire-resistant materials were used.

The VENTIlogic system has yet to be approved for use within the U.S. or by Canadian authorities. Weinmann will profile the line at the upcoming annual convention of the German Society of Anesthesiologists and Intensive Care Medicine.

About Weinmann: Weinmann Gerate fur Medizin GmbH & Co. concentrates on Homecare, Emergency and Diagnostics product lines. Headquartered in Hamburg since 1977, the family business offers life-saving devices and system solutions of the highest quality. With over 500 employees, it boasts more than 100 patent families, over 90 trademarks, and over 63 million Euros in sales.