Vari-Ox Bag

• Michael Castillo
• Humberto Dominguez Jr.
• Yash Nadkarni
• Raj Patel

Advisors: Anthony E. Felder, PhD, Miiri Kotche, PhD

Sponsor: Girish G. Deshpande, PhD

The World Health Organization states that there were 6.9 million deaths relating to hypoxia and/or hyperoxia. Hypoxia is the condition in which the body is oxygen deprived, while hyperoxia is a condition in which the body has too much oxygen. In a direct countermeasure to these conditions, a new design for an oxygen blender has been proposed. These blenders are able to titrate oxygen from 100% to 21% in increments of 10%. These older devices, however, are bulk, reducing its portability. This causes complications when a patient has to be moved into a different location within the hospital. It is especially relevant when a patient needs to be resuscitated and transferred to an operating room. Many third-world countries cannot afford nor do they have the electricity to power them. As a result, physicians tend to give 100% oxygen to patients during resuscitation. To ensure the risks of hyperoxia, we propose an oxygen bag that has a built-in oxygen blender that’ll be able to titrate 100% oxygen in increments of 10% down to 21% Fraction of Inspired Oxygen(FiO2): Vari-Ox bag. The Vari-Ox bag utilizes the pressure differential within the blender to passively suction in room air as the titration source. The pressure differential is caused by the input of 100% O2 in the oxygen blender, which will mix with room air to deliver the correct amount of FiO2 to the patient. Through having 3 slits open, each 1cm x .5cm, and varying the inflow of 100% oxygen from 15L/m, 10L/m, 8L/m and 6 L/m, the titration level went from 74%, 66%, 62% then to 54% in the initial testing phase. With the successful creation of the Vari-Ox bag, a universal oxygen blender bag will be created to help battle both hyperoxia and hypoxia.

See supporting documentation in the team’s Box drive.