Pediatric Anesthesia | Thomas Erb

Mechanical ventilation is essential in pediatric care for anesthesia, postoperative treatment, and managing respiratory failure. Its primary goals include optimizing gas exchange, reducing the work of breathing, and minimizing ventilator-induced lung injury, with a focus on reducing respiratory complications and associated risks.

Our research emphasizes precise monitoring of respiratory mechanics and controlling ventilation to prevent lung damage. Accurate airway pressure measurement is crucial, particularly when using less sophisticated ventilators, such as low-cost or open-source ventilators developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initiated in 2020 in collaboration with ETH Zurich and supported by the Botnar Research Center for Child Health, our project developed an add-on system for tracheal pressure monitoring. Following successful in vitro tests, in vivo studies and safety evaluations are underway to advance safer, more precise ventilation strategies, especially for low-cost ventilators.

• Nikola Stankovic, MD, PhD