Evaluation: Draeger Apollo Anesthesia Unit for General-Purpose and Low-Acuity/Ambulatory Surgery Applications
November 30, 2020 | Evaluations & Guidance
Preview
- The Apollo is used for general anesthesia during surgery for the entire range of patients (neonates through adults).
- The unit can also be used to provide supplemental oxygen (O2—typically via a nasal cannula or loose-fitting mask) and capnography during monitored anesthesia care (MAC).
- Major components and features:
- Minimum dimensions (D × W): 104 × 99 cm (41 × 39 in)
- Ventilator and breathing system
- Has an internal piston, which is not visible to the anesthesia provider
- The Apollo has breathing sounds, which provide audible feedback that the ventilator is working.
- As a safety function, the piston supports ventilation in case of high-pressure source failure. In this case, the piston will utilize room air to ventilate the patient. The piston can entrain room air if no pressurized gas is available, to allow the unit to continue to ventilate. However, it is not possible to deliver agent when doing so.
- Uses fresh gas decoupling to prevent changes in fresh gas flow from affecting delivered tidal volumes
- Automatically compensates for breathing circuit compliance (breathing circuit compliance must be measured at the start of each case or if the circuit is changed during a case)
- Volume during manual ventilation: 3.7 L (including absorber canister)
- Volume during automatic ventilation: 4.0 L (including absorber canister and piston)
- Fresh gas controls
- Mechanical valves that control the flows of O2, air, and nitrous oxide (N2O) (0-12 L/min per gas)
- Knobs are located in the center of the front of the unit.
- Flow is measured by electronic flow sensors (as opposed to physical flow tubes).
- All controls will work in the absence of electrical power.
- Gas analyzer
- Integral
- The analyzer takes a sidestream sample from the patient wye at 200 mL/min and analyzes the inspired and expired concentration of O2, carbon dioxide (CO2), and anesthetic gases.
- Sampled gas is returned to the breathing system.
- The sample line enters the water trap on the front of the unit to the right of the fresh gas controls.
- Vaporizers
- The Apollo can be configured (when ordered from Draeger) to work with either Draeger vaporizers or Selectatec-style vaporizers.
- The mount must match the style of vaporizers used (Draeger or Selectatec style).
- The Apollo has three mount options:
- Draeger style with two active mounts
- Draeger style with three active mounts
- Selectatec style with two active mounts
- Absorber
- Two options available: reusable canister and disposable Draeger CLIC canister
- Bypass valve allows absorbent to be changed during a case without introducing a leak into the breathing system.
- Canister is located on front of unit under breathing system.
- Total flow meter
- Measures the total fresh gas flow (0-10 L/min)
- Flow tube located on the front of the unit to the right of the fresh gas control knobs
- Pressure gauge
- Pressure is measured manually, and is also measured electronically and displayed on the screen.
- If the unit loses all electrical power, the manual pressure gauge continues to function.
- Circular pressure gauge on the front of the unit between the auxiliary O2 flow meter and water trap
- Auxiliary O2 flow meter
- Delivers a metered flow of pure O2 (0-10 L/min) separate from the normal fresh gas flow path
- Auxiliary O2 is typically used with a nasal cannula or loose-fitting mask.