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Project Overview

Design Requirements

 

Background

Project Schedule

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

 

USE

            The final unit should weigh less than 0.5kg and no more than 2.5kg such that can be carried by one person with ease. The device will be used indoors with access to electricity. The device should provide continuous monitoring while the patient is under anesthesia. To facilitate use, the device will maintain battery power for at least five hours.

 

MEASUREMENTS

            The device will measure blood oxygenation and heart rate noninvasively without physical discomfort to the patient, such as feather plucking. It will calculate blood oxygenation based on avian physiology. Low pulse oxygenation levels are generally less accurate due to lack of empirical data. However, pulse oxygenation levels between 80 – 100% should be accurate within 0.5%. An alarm will sound if the measurement falls below the self-ventilation level of 80% [1].

            The average heart rate for the Domestic Fowl is between 250 – 300bpm [2]. The device must be within 10bpm for heart rates under 400bpm. For heart rates higher than 400bpm, heart rate must be accurate within 20bpm.

 

BACKGROUND

  • Avian physiology markedly different from mammalian counterpart to adapt to the high-altitude conditions experienced during flight

    • Highly developed and relatively rigid lung supplied by five air sacs contained in the proximal thoracic cavity and abdominal region [3]

    • Air sacs function as a “bellows” to provide required force for both inspiration and expiration, unlike mammals, which neither possess air sacs nor expend energy to inhale

    • Due to air sacs, a bird of 1kg mass will have a respiratory system volume of 160.8mL while a mammal of 1kg mass will have a respiratory system volume of 54.4mL.

    • Increased volume allows for lower respiratory frequency in birds and combines with their unique lung structure to produce higher oxygenation efficiency in the avian lung compared to mammals [4]

  • Due to structure of the avian respiratory system, unique accommodations must be taken to ensure safe anesthetic use in avian surgery

    • During surgery, anesthetics often cause hypothermia, hypoventilation, and apnea in birds

    • For waterfowl, placing a mask on their beak or nostril can elicit a dive response and trigger bradycardia and apnea [6]

  • Therefore, accurate measurements of heart rate and oxygen saturation are essential to gauging the status of an avian patient during surgery

    • Since avian respiration rates decrease during surgery yet their respiratory system is highly efficient and functions on low ventilation rates naturally, the condition of the patient is difficult to gauge without a pulse oximetry unit

  • Pulse oximetry units measure heart rate and hemoglobin oxygen saturation

    • These devices range from implantable to skin-contact only

    • Heart rate for birds is remarkably variable, with resting values ranging from 90 beats/min for Gentoo penguins to 600 beats/min for an Amazon parrot [4, 8]

    • The oxygen saturation is measured as bound hemoglobin over the sum of total hemoglobin, bound and unbound

      • Hemoglobin oxygen saturation for resting birds is usually between 80-85% while self-ventilating, but hemoglobin oxygen saturation for birds whose respiration is regulated by intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (IPPV) during surgery is usually between 98-100%

PROJECT 

SCHEDULE

RESOURCES

[1] Sinn, Leslie C. "Chapter 39: Anesthesiology." Avian Medicine: Principles and Application. By Ritchie Harrison Harrison. Florida: Wingers, 1997. N. pag. Print.

[2] Detweiler D.K. and Erickson H.H., Regulation of the Heart, Dukes’ Physiology of Domestic Animals, 12th ed., Reece W.O..Ed. Cornell University: 2004.

[3] King, Anthony S. Form and Function in Birds. London: Acad., 1989. Print.

[4] Peaker, Malcolm. "Recent Advances in Avian Respiration." Avian Physiology: The Proceedings of a Symposium Advances in Avian Physiology Held at the Zoological

            Society of London on 22 and 23 November 1973. London: Academic for the ZoologicalSociety of London, 1975. Print.

[5] Phillips, J. G., P. J. Butler, and P. J. Sharp. "Thermoregulation." Physiological Strategies in Avian Biology. Glasgow: Blackie, 1985. Print.

[6] Edling, Thomas M., MSpVM. "Chapter 33." Clinical Avian Medicine. By Greg J. Harrison and Teresa Lightfoot. Vol. II. Palm Beach, FL: Spix Pub., 2006. Print.

[7] Sinn, Leslie C. "Chapter 39: Anesthesiology." Avian Medicine: Principles and Application. By Ritchie Harrison Harrison. Florida: Wingers, 1997. N. pag. Print.

[8] Lumeij, JT and Branson W. Ritchie. "Chapter 27: Cardiology." Avian Medicine: Principles and Application. By Ritchie Harrison Harrison. Florida: Wingers, 1997. N. pag. Print.

[9] Lopez, Santiago. "Pulse Oximeter Fundamentals and Design." Editorial. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. Web.

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