Medical Device Simulators · Interactive Lab
Ventilator Simulator
Change airway resistance, compliance, PEEP, inspiratory flow and inspiratory time to see the volume delivered and the airway pressure a ventilator must generate during inspiration.
Parameters
Use the controls or enter precise values.
Why these controls?
These are the lung–circuit inputs. Resistance and inspiratory flow set the resistive pressure part, compliance and delivered volume set the elastic part, and PEEP is the baseline. Change them to see which term grows when the airways narrow or the lungs stiffen.
Calculated result
End-inspiration values
Peak airway pressure
20.0
cmH₂O
Delivered volume: 0.50 L over 1.0 s
- PEEP component
- 5.0
- cmH₂O
- Resistive R·Q
- 5.0
- cmH₂O
- Elastic V/C
- 10.0
- cmH₂O
Total pressure = PEEP + resistive + elastic. Raising resistance raises only the resistive part; lowering compliance raises only the elastic part.
Pressure vs. time
Total Paw with its PEEP, resistive and elastic components
Volume vs. time
Constant flow gives a linear volume ramp, V(t) = Q·t
Equation of motion
- R = airway resistance (cmH₂O·s/L)
- Q = constant inspiratory flow (L/s)
- C = respiratory-system compliance (L/cmH₂O)
- V(t) = Q·t = volume above the end-expiratory reference (L)
- PEEP = positive end-expiratory pressure (cmH₂O)
Assumptions & scope
- Passive patient: no spontaneous breathing effort; the ventilator does all the work.
- Single-compartment lung with constant resistance and compliance throughout the breath.
- Leak-free system, constant (square-wave) inspiratory flow, no auto-PEEP.
- This module illustrates lung mechanics only — it does NOT recommend clinical ventilator settings.