Help to breathe prematurely born babies

The goal of the project is to help 3 Ukrainian hospitals immediately save lives of prematurely born children. Clinical maternity hospital №2 in Chernivtsi, Uzhgorod city hospital, Izmail perinatal center need acquisition of flow sensors for monitoring respiration in premature babies when nursing. Let's help doctors do their work, and children get a chance to live!

According to the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO), a baby born before 37-38 weeks of pregnancy with a body weight of less than 2.5 kg is considered premature. Prematurity presupposes primarily the "immaturity" of all organs and systems, the inability of the infant to have a separate existence from the mother. Functioning of all organs and systems of a premature baby is also associated with the absence of a certain period of intrauterine development and features of maturation and development of the organism in a new environment. Given the immaturity of all organs and systems (central nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive), adverse effects are transferred to preterm infants especially acute. Consequently, children born too premature babies need special care.

In premature infants, the frequency of breathing usually exceeds the norm and depends on the degree of prematurity: the smaller the weight of the child, the more often he has to breathe. In connection with the immaturity of the nervous system, as well as the lipid metabolism system. The derivative of this is the surfactant, which provides the opening of the lungs during the first inspiration and their normal functioning in the future, in preterm often develops a syndrome of respiratory disorders, which manifests itself by the development of atelectasis. Atelectasis - areas of the asleep or not fully expanded pulmonary tissue that does not participate in respiration and can cause respiratory failure. Such a child is transferred to artificial ventilation until the respiratory system begins to function. Against the background of the syndrome of respiratory disorders often occurs the attachment of various infectious diseases (pneumonia), which, of course, worsens the condition of the child.

To monitor the breathing of the impulse, flow sensors are used. Their main task is the analysis of exhaled air. The sensor measures the amount of flow, then the respirator's microprocessor translates this figure into an estimate of the volume of exhaled air by the tiny lungs of a prematurely born child. The latter should correspond to the volume established by the doctor on the respiratory panel, and blow into the lungs of a small patient. The main purpose of the pressure sensor is to monitor this parameter in the infant's airways to prevent barotrauma and air leakage.

The use of two types of sensors provides the necessary sound and light alarms for inconsistencies in the respirator settings and the actual ventilation parameters of the small patient. Sensors provide the respirator with the information necessary for the functioning of sound and light alarms. Therefore, it is so important that in each ventilator, the intensive care unit of intensive care of newborns in the Rivne Regional Children's Hospital, there was a flow sensor to prevent barotrauma and control the readiness of a small patient for independent breathing.

The aim of the project is to buy 8 flow sensors for 3 Ukrainian hospitals! Without your help, we can not cope!