Medical ventilator

A medical ventilator forces air into a patient's lungs, and then permits it to exit. This process usually also stabilizes a patients' heart rhythyms, so in many cases, a ventilator is sufficient to keep a patient with a severely damaged body alive.

Ventilators replaced the "iron lung" formerly used for patients with paralysed breathing.

Ventilators consist of an air pump, exhalation valve, plumbing, a disposable patient set and some method to synchronize the pump and valve in a breathing rhythym.

The most common form of pump is now a computer-controlled turbopump. Valves vary. Most ventilators are now controlled by a small embedded system. The ventilator as a whole is carefully designed so that no single point of failure can endanger the patient. For example, most ventilators have batteries in case the wall-socket power fails, and methods to operate or call for help if their mechanisms or software fails.

See life support, safety engineering