Infinium Capnography a Matter of Life and Breath

On February 1st 2011, all Infinium Medical patient monitors will be sold with the capacity to upgrade to measure capnography. Due to the lower costs and advancements in capnography, the Capnography measurement is rapidly becoming a highly demanded parameter in patient monitoring. Once the standard for measuring ventilation in intubated patients, capnography is now the new standard for measuring breathing in non-intubated patients.   It provides the first and fastest indication of respiratory failure by measuring the patient expired Co2   (EtCo2).  

As Co2 is exhausted from the body, the Co2 reaches it highest concentration toward the end of the patient’s breath.  This is the point where the End tidal Co2 reading is taken. This is generally around 40mmHg. This reading is shown in the patient monitor as EtCo2.

Capnography give the fastest assessment of a patient’s state of ventilation by reason that is a real time indication of breathing and expired Co2 levels. The waveform curvature and respiration rate on the capnography equipment monitor show each breath while the patients Etco2 level gives indications of the patient metabolic and circulatory state in real time.

Method of Capnography:

On the Omni series patient monitors, the Capnography option gives a numeric MMhg measurement, respiration rate and displays a breath-by-breath waveform on the screen. The method of measurement is via infrared sensors in the Capnograph accessory. The 2 main types of measurement are mainstream and side stream measurement.   Mainstream is strictly for intubated patients while having the Co2 sensor in the patient’s airway. With advances in sensor technology, side stream or microstream methods of measurement are becoming the new standard.  With side stream technology the sensors are located in the patient monitor while EtCo2 reading can be take from both intubated and non-intubated patients.