Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Respirol. Jul 28, 2016; 6(2): 49-53
Published online Jul 28, 2016. doi: 10.5320/wjr.v6.i2.49
Automated weaning from mechanical ventilation
Mirko Belliato
Mirko Belliato, Second ICU, S. C. Anestesia e Rianimazione 2, Foundation IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Lombardia, Italy
Author contributions: Belliato M was solely responsible for the conception, design and writing of this Editorial.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Mirko Belliato received economic support and fees from Hamilton Medical AG, CH, for lectures, congresses and workshops on mechanical ventilation and respiratory support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mirko Belliato, MD, Specialist in Intensive and Emergency Care, Second ICU, S. C. Anestesia e Rianimazione 2, Foundation IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, P. le Golgi n. 19, 27100 Pavia, Lombardia, Italy. m.belliato@smatteo.pv.it
Telephone: +39-03-82502769Fax: +39-03-82501026
Received: April 1, 2016
Peer-review started: April 6, 2016
First decision: May 17, 2016
Revised: May 30, 2016
Accepted: June 27, 2016
Article in press: June 29, 2016
Published online: July 28, 2016
Processing time: 108 Days and 10.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Weaning from mechanical ventilation is a crucial point during respiratory therapy and most intensive care units have developed human-based protocols to wean the patient. Newer ventilators have implemented a computer-aided weaning protocol, and the QuickWean application may be the most complete because it can drive the patient automatically from total passivity to readiness to wean. A key feature of the full computer-driven process is the safeness of the procedure, ensured by the patient always being under control in terms of peripheral oxygen saturation, pulmonary end-tidal carbon dioxide and respiratory fatigue, and improving upon the discontinuous human-driven process.