Development of anesthetic and ventilation equipment at VNIIMP-VITA, Ltd.

Abstract

in 1992. The development of the A 1 IA apparatus was supervised by V. A. Mikhalev and performed by P. N. Kapkov (later to be researchers of VNIIMP). After World War II, the Ozhivitel' apparatus for mechanical lung ven tilation (MLV), a copy of the M&G oxygen cylinder based apparatus (USA), and apparatus for gas anesthesia (1948) were developed.In the mid 1950s, the Laboratory of Gas Devices and Apparatuses (Head, A. S. Perel'mutr) was established in the Institute. The laboratory was staffed with 15 engi neers, constructors, technicians, etc. G. M. Freidin, a member of the laboratory, had both engineering and med ical background. Several models of aerosol generators, water spirometers, apparatuses for submerged massage, drying cases, etc. were developed.In the late 1950s IA and muscle relaxation agents were brought into use in MLV assisted surgery in the USSR. Long term MLV was also used in treatment of poliomyelitis and some other neurological diseases. An important role of MLV in resuscitation was also demon strated. Academicians V. A. Negovsky, B. E. Votchal, B. V. Petrovsky, and Professors N. N. Elansky, I. S. Zhorov, L. M. Popova, and L. L. Shik substantiated the use of IA and MLV in surgery.The first domestic MLV apparatuses DP 1 and DP 2 became commercially available from Respirator (Orekhovo Zuevo) in the late 1950s. These simple pneu matic devices were copies of similar models of German manufacture.Young researchers studied the medical bases of such equipment. For the first time in the USSR, technological parameters (e.g., resistance of tracheal tubes, theory of rotameters, etc.) of MLV apparatuses were tested instru mentally. The results of tests of IA, MLV, and aerosol gen erators were reviewed by the Laboratory researchers.I. P. Smirnov, the Head of the Institute, and A. S. Perel'mutr promoted this promising approach. The Department of Equipment for Anesthesia and Resusci tation (DEAR) was organized and the number of staff members was increased to 60.In the late 1950s, the first domestic models of appa ratuses for IA were developed at DEAR: UNA 1, UNAP 2, and NA 3. For the first time the construction of the devices was based on theoretical calculations of evapora tor, absorber, and respiratory and safety valves.The first domestic MLV system for IA, RN 59, was developed by M. K. Soms. These devices pioneered a promising new area in domestic medical engineering of that time, equipment for respiratory inhalation anesthesia (RIA). These devices were manufactured at the Krasnogvardeets plant (St. Petersburg).In 1962 a new model of the MLV apparatus RO 62 was developed at the Institute. It was the first model of the most popular series of domestic MLV devices. Some technological achievements implemented in this model (triggering of respiration cycle phases, built in low pres sure compressor, etc.) are still in use in modern domestic MLV devices. A total of 15 new models of MLV appara tuses of this family were developed at VNIIMP in collab oration with leading pulmonologists and engineers.Several devices for...