A medical ventilator is a type of breathing apparatus that provides mechanical ventilation, moving breathable air into and out of the lungs to deliver breaths to a patient who cannot breathe adequately on their own. Ventilators range from simple hand-operated bag valve masks to computerized, microprocessor-controlled machines, and they are used chiefly in intensive care medicine, home care, emergency medicine and as part of an anesthesia machine during surgery. Earlier generations of ventilators were often called respirators, a term still commonly used for them in the 1950s, particularly for the Bird respirator, though modern medical usage now reserves respirator for a protective face mask instead.
Facts
Year1928 is the introduction date of the Drinker respirator, the first version of what became known as the iron lung; the source names no earlier device with a definite invention date. SignificanceThe iron lung, introduced as the Drinker respirator in 1928 and improved by John Haven Emerson in 1931 and the Both respirator in 1937, became the first mechanical ventilator in wide practical use, sustaining patients through the twentieth century polio epidemics before positive-pressure ventilators took over most later use. 1 FAQs
Is a medical ventilator the same thing as a respirator?
Respirator now means a protective face mask rather than a ventilator.
Not in current medical usage. Ventilators were sometimes called respirators, a term commonly used for them in the 1950s, particularly for the Bird respirator. Contemporary medical terminology uses the word respirator for a face mask that protects the wearer against hazardous airborne substances.
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Source Medical Ventilator (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Medical Ventilator (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationHistory section, opening sentence (Drinker respirator date)
The history of mechanical ventilation begins with various versions of what was eventually called the iron lung, a form of noninvasive negative-pressure ventilator widely used during the polio epidemics of the twentieth century after the introduction of the Drinker respirator in 1928, improvements introduced by John Haven Emerson in 1931, and the Both respirator in 1937.
History section, opening sentence (polio epidemic impact)
a form of noninvasive negative-pressure ventilator widely used during the polio epidemics of the twentieth century
In Field: Biomedical Engineering, Categories
Medical pumps
In Group: Life Support and Resuscitation Equipment, Lead
A ventilator is a type of breathing apparatus, a class of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently.
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