Clinical Efficacy in Relief of Dyspnea by HVNI: Evaluation of New Cannulae Designs

Clinical Efficacy in Relief of Dyspnea by HVNI: Evaluation of New Cannulae Designs

This study will evaluate the ability of High Velocity Nasal Insufflation [HVNI] next generation nasal cannula designs to effect ventilation and related physiological responses relative to the conventional legacy cannula design.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the ability of HVNI next generation nasal cannula designs to effect ventilation and related physiological responses relative to the current cannula design, with which there are published clinical outcomes data. It is hypothesized that next generation nasal cannula designs (Prosoft and Unicorn) will be comparable at relieving patient dyspnea while on HVNI, when compared to the conventional (Legacy) cannula.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults, 18 years or older
• Demonstrated severe dyspnea at baseline (Borg Rated Perceived Dyspnea [RPD] (scale 0-10) of 3 or higher)
• Severe baseline hypercarbia/hypercapnia of 50 mmHg or higher as measured by TcPCo2 or arterial or venous blood gas

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patient has unstable cardiovascular condition
• Significant unilateral or bilateral nasal occlusion
• Vigorous physical activity should not be performed within 2 hours of testing
• Inability to provide informed consent
• Pregnancy
• Known contraindication to perform steps of the protocol
• Absence of spontaneous respiration or known contraindication to HVNI
• Inability to use nasal cannula and HVNI therapy
• Agitation or uncooperativeness
• Determined by the clinician to be sufficiently unstable or unsuitable for this study