Intelligent Humidification Expands Critical Care Ventilation

The HAMILTON‐H900 is delivered preassembled, and includes only two components. A breathing set including all‐in‐one connectors, an integrated temperature probe, the water refill tube, Y‐piece, and the water chamber. A base unit includes a user interface and the heating plate. The two component design saves time, increases efficiency, and facilitates the handling of the humidifier, as well as reducing the risk of contamination. For operation, the caregiver only needs to slide the water chamber into the humidifier and connect the breathing circuit to the patient.

Advanced breathing circuits integrate heater wires into the walls, eliminating the cold interface between heated breathing gas and ambient temperatures, which leads to significantly reduced condensation and rain-out effects in the breathing circuit. To adapt the humidification therapy to the individual patient and environmental conditions, manual adjustment of chamber temperature and temperature gradient to reduce condensation in the tubing is available. This minimizes the potential for the spread of pathogens associated with the development of ventilator‐associated pneumonia (VAP).

A large, high‐contrast liquid crystal diode (LCD) display provides excellent readability, even in direct sunlight. Alarms are displayed with self-explanatory icons, bright alarm lamps, and an audible alarm. Ventilator connectivity option allows control of the humidifier from any compatible ventilator; all controls, monitoring parameters, and alarms are controllable via the ventilator display. Full integration of humidifier monitoring with a patient data management system is also provided. The HAMILTON‐H900 is a product of Hamilton Medical (Bonaduz; Switzerland), and has received the European Community CE marking.

“Humidification is an important part of respiratory care. When we developed the HAMILTON‐H900 humidifier, we talked to many clinicians to understand what they would improve in conventional humidification,” said Jens Hallek, President of Hamilton Medical. “Easier handling of circuits, cables and connections, an improved user interface, reduction of rain‐out, and increased safety were the most requested enhancements. The HAMILTON‐H900 aims at improving humidification in exactly these areas.”

Cool tubing that has warm humid air moving through it tends to form condensation along its walls, the so-called rain-out effect. To avoid this, the device integrates heating coils within the tubing so that the temperature of the air stays constant throughout its journey.

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