Richard Roa, D.Sc.

Senior Project Manager, Philips Healthcare

Title of Keynote Lecture: Current Trends in Mechanical Ventilation

Use of positive pressure mechanical ventilation in the intensive care setting began about 50 years ago. Many of the challenges facing this technology in the beginning still remain. In this presentation I will review current technological approaches to solving problems associated with mechanical ventilation. I will explore improvements for effectively ventilating challenging patients while minimizing lung injury, infections, and long-term dependency. Recent advances in improving patient-ventilator synchrony will be reviewed. The current state of automated ventilator control will be reviewed from the perspective of the benefits and risks associated with these methods. Finally, I will attempt to put into perspective some of the more exotic methods such as high frequency ventilation, use of Heliox and Nitric Oxide, as well as the current status of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for supporting patients in acute respiratory failure.

Biography:

Richard Roa is currently a Senior Project Manager with Philips Healthcare's Hospital Respiratory Care division. Prior to this position he served as Senior Director of Product Development at Spacelabs Healthcare and as Vice President of Engineering at Protocol Systems. Before entering the medical device business, he served as Director of Clinical Engineering at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He has a D.Sc. And M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Washington University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri.