New iOS App Helps Doctors Apply the Concepts of Mechanical Ventilation

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New iOS App Helps Doctors Apply the Concepts of Mechanical Ventilation - Published on 11/06/15

First Draught Press has announced The Ventilator App, their new medical app for iOS devices. The Ventilator App is a clinical decision support tool designed to aid medical professionals in providing mechanical ventilation to treat patients with respiratory failure. The app was developed by William Owens, MD. Dr. Owens is a specialist in Critical Care Medicine and is an Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

Columbia, South Carolina - First Draught Press has announced the release and immediate availability of The Ventilator App 1.0, their new medical app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. The Ventilator App aids medical students, respiratory therapists, physicians in-training, and practicing clinicians in understanding and applying the concepts of mechanical ventilation.

The Ventilator App was developed by William Owens, MD. Dr. Owens is a specialist in Critical Care Medicine. He is active in teaching medical students and resident physicians in the Intensive Care Unit, where they use mechanical ventilators to treat patients with respiratory failure. This includes patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), the most severe form of respiratory failure, which is associated with a mortality rate of 40-50%. Whenever Dr. Owens asks students and residents which topic they feel most uncomfortable with in the ICU, the answer he almost always hears is: "the ventilator.�

"To aid in the understanding of mechanical ventilation, I wrote and published 'The Ventilator Book,'" says Dr. Owens. "The logical extension of this educational effort was to create an app for Apple's iOS devices, which are used heavily by medical care professionals. The Ventilator App is the result of my efforts, and is the first iOS app to provide comprehensive clinical decision support for treating patients with respiratory failure."

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2000 showed a benefit with lower tidal volumes (the volume of gas that the ventilator delivers to the patient's lungs) in ARDS. This method, known as "lung protective ventilation," reduced the mortality rate among critically ill patients by nearly 9%. Despite the results of the study, which has since been validated, less than 50% of patients in Intensive Care Units are treated with lung protective ventilation. Dr. Owens hopes that by using The Ventilator App, more medical professionals will provide lung protective ventilation to their patients.

Features:
* Tidal Volume Calculator: Displays a recommended tidal volume range for the patient's predicted body weight
* PEEP-FiO2 Calculator: Uses the patient's existing PEEP, FiO2, and PaO2 to advise providers on adjustment of the ventilator settings
* A troubleshooting guide for both common and uncommon situations in the ICU
* A quick reference guide, including common formulas and tables

"It has been estimated that it takes, on average, seventeen years for new developments in medicine to become routine clinical practice," continues Dr. Owens. "That is much too long, and one reason I created this app is to reduce this knowledge translation gap. Having a readily available handheld clinical decision support tool will help physicians, advanced practice providers, and respiratory therapists make decisions about treatment for critically ill patients."

The app offers a number of tools to guide healthcare providers with the proper treatment to their patients. A tidal volume calculator allows the input of a patient's height and gender, and whether or not the patient is afflicted with ARDS. The calculator then displays a recommended tidal volume range. Proper tidal volume is crucial, and is based on a patient's ideal body weight. The calculator quickly returns correct results and does not require the provider to perform cumbersome manual calculations.

A second calculator aids in the adjustment of the end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and inspired oxygen (FiO2) in patients with ARDS. This feature, the first of its kind, makes use of a multi-step clinical algorithm to rapidly calculate the necessary changes to the ventilator settings. The provider inputs the PEEP, FiO2, and the patient's arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2). (The PaO2 is measured by drawing an arterial blood sample; the PEEP and FiO2 are settings on the ventilator). The app will then display any recommended ventilator changes, if needed, to the user. The results returned follow the PEEP-FiO2 tables used in the major ARDS research studies.

The Ventilator App includes a troubleshooting guide that includes both common and uncommon situations that may occur with ventilated patients in the Intensive Care Unit. A quick reference guide has common formulas and tables, which is invaluable information to healthcare professionals, particularly medical students and physicians-in-training.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
* Requires iOS 8.2 or later
* Universal Application
* 9.5 MB

Pricing and Availability:
The Ventilator App 1.0 is only $4.99 USD (or an equivalent amount in other currencies) and is available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Medical category. Review copies are available upon request.

The Ventilator App 1.0: http://www.theventilatorapp.com/
Purchase and Download: https://itunes.apple.com/app/the-ventilator-app/id1039642561
The Ventilator Book: http://www.theventilatorbook.com/Title_Page.html
Screenshot (iPhone): http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple3/v4/89/21/6b/89216ba0-1a13-cea7-c006-05617e806c40/screen322x572.jpeg
Screenshot (iPad): http://a2.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple6/v4/17/f5/32/17f532bd-98f7-7eee-7630-b815ec4a0d6b/screen480x480.jpeg
App Icon: http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple3/v4/a4/82/8a/a4828a33-d509-3d28-7886-e55636b13a3c/icon175x175.png


First Draught Press - founded in Pittsburgh, PA in 2012 by William Owens, MD, and currently in Columbia, SC - Produces medical education publications and clinical decision support tools. Copyright (C) 2015 First Draught Press. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.


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