title: Mechanical ventilation: past lessons and the near future.
abstract: The ability to compensate for life-threatening failure of respiratory function is perhaps the signature technology of intensive care medicine. Unchanging needs for providing effective life-support with minimized risk and optimized comfort have been, are now, and will be the principal objectives of providing mechanical ventilation. Important lessons acquired over nearly half-a-century of ICU care have brought us closer to meeting them, as technological advances in instrumentation now effectively put this hard-won knowledge into action. Rising demand in the face of economic constraints is likely to drive future innovations focused on reducing the need for user input, automating multi-element protocols, and carefully monitoring the patient for progress and complications.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Regions Hospital MS11203B, 640 Jackson Street, St Paul, MN 55101, USA. marin002@umn.edu
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Marini
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends*; D062069:Inventions / Q000639:trends*; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical