College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Biomedical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Biomedical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Biomedical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Biomedical Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Engineering
Department - Author 3
Biomedical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Biomedical Engineering
Date
3-2025
Primary Advisor
Christopher Heylman, College of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
The CPAP Belly Pre-Vent device was developed to prevent stomach distension caused by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment in premature neonatal patients under 2 kg. CPAP therapy provides critical respiratory support but can lead to air accumulation in the stomach due to esophageal insufficiency. This accumulation, known as CPAP belly, can interfere with lung expansion and feeding efficiency. The goal of this project was to design, develop, and test a device that passively vents excess air from the stomach to alleviate these issues.
The main phases of the project consist of identifying customer requirements and translating them to engineering requirements, concept generation, device prototyping, and analyzing the results. For this device, key customer requirements included being able to prevent stomach distention by venting out air, perform in the possibility of blockages, being able to be structurally sound, and usable by the medical staff.
Using these requirements, engineering specifications such as preventing 1.5x area growth of the stomach model, performing within 25% of unobstructed flow during simulate blockages and a maximum external diameter of 8 French.
After testing, none of the proportional area changes surpassed the the failure threshold. In addition, when compared to the passive venting test, simulating blockages provided results that were statistically insignificant, suggesting that the blockage mitigation features on the device were effective.
The Pre-Vent CPAP Belly Device successfully meets customer and engineering requirements, demonstrating effective passive venting of excess air while being able to combat any potential obstruction and interference within the body. This innovation presents a practical solution for neonatal patients experiencing CPAP belly, improving respiratory outcomes and feeding efficiency in the NICU setting. Future work will involve testing with greater sample sizes, more development in manufacturing processes, and biocompatibility testing.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bmedsp/202