Major contributions by VPMA volunteers over the past ten years include activities in the area of heart, lung, blood, and cancer treatment of adults plus specialized critical illness treatment of children and infants.
A brochure with a complete listing of VPMA's ten year activities is available by request.
Here are two examples of VPMA medical engineering problems in hospitals.
Saving premature infants
The first example involves providing life saving oxygen air enrichment for premature infants. (Reviewed by Dr. Ramanathon, director of the Neonatal Department, of the Women's and Children's hospital of Los Angeles.)
Did you know that approximately eighty percent of premature infants weighing one pound or so never lived twenty years ago, and now most of them grow up to be normal children. This accomplishment was largely due to doctors piping oxygen into the infant's underdeveloped lungs through a tiny tube in the throat to prevent asphyxiation.
The current use of inaccurate manual control of the oxygen flow, critical to infant health, needs improvement. Lung disease, blindness and brain damage can occur if appropriate oxygen is not provided. VPMA is assisting in the development of an automated system to provide the infant's needs accurately.
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