In vitro comparative study of wall port-based high-frequency chest wall oscillation device and internal air-pulse generator device

Owing to environmental and disease issues, the use of high-frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) devices in hospitals is consistently increasing. This study proposes a cost-effective actuator-less HFCWO device that utilizes an external wall port utility in hospitals to generate the positive and negative pneumatic pressures required for HFCWO treatment instead of an embedded mechanical actuator. The manufactured prototype with the no-amplification (NO-AMP) setting contained an electric pressure regulator to enable intensity level adjustment and two solenoid valves to enable vibration frequency adjustment, whereas the prototype with the pre-amplification (PRE-AMP) setting contained an additional air reservoir and an air-pressure booster. The prototype device was tuned to output average local maximum values in the pressure waveform similar to a commercial VEST-205 device at an 8–12 Hz frequency and 2–4 pressure intensity levels. In vitro comparative experiments demonstrated that the prototype device showed similar local maximum pressures to those of the VEST-205 (mean absolute pressure difference, <3 mmH 2 O); in contrast, the proposed device showed significantly higher local minimum pressures than those of the VEST-205 (mean absolute pressure difference, >8 mmH 2 O). Additionally, the driving sound of the proposed device was 17.0–17.8 dB higher than that of VEST-205. We conclude that the proposed device has the potential to substitute for conventional HFCWO devices under the limited but most frequently used operating conditions, although more detailed modifications are necessary in future studies to improve its performance and clinical usability.