Anesthesia Ventilator for Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins and California Sea Lions

Innovative Veterinary Medicine, Inc. has conceptualized and designed an anesthesia ventilator named DolVent™ specifically for the Navy Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions. The DolVent™ ventilator design will support the normal physiologic state of these animals using ventilation modes mimicking their natural breathing including the modes of Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV) and Apneustic Anesthesia Ventilation (AAV). The ventilator has been designed with commercially available components to be compatible and operable with commercially available human and large animal veterinary gas anesthesia systems, and is currently in Phase I Option design finalization. The ventilator will be fully deployable and meet compatibility/conditional standards for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facilities. A removable microprocessor control and enhanced user interface (EUI) is designed to improve and simplify user application of the various modes of ventilation. The DolVent™ ventilator with EUI will be fully prototyped and mechanically bench tested in Phase II. The prototype ventilator will then be fully safety tested on domestic species, and tested for efficacy prior to testing on Navy animals. A Board Certified Veterinary Anesthesiologist recognized as a global authority on anesthesia of both California sea lions and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins is overseeing concept, design and prototype development.