Background: Automated oxygen control systems are finding their way into contemporary ventilators for preterm infants, each with its own algorithm, strategy and effect.

Objective: To provide guidance to clinicians seeking to comprehend automated oxygen control and possibly introduce this technology in their practice.

Method: A narrative review of the commercially available devices using different algorithms incorporating rule-based, proportional-integral-derivative and adaptive concepts are described and explained. An overview of how they work and, if available, the clinical effect is given.

Results: All algorithms have shown a beneficial effect on the proportion of time that oxygen saturation is within target range, and a decrease in hyperoxia and severe hypoxia. Automated oxygen control may also reduce the workload for bedside staff. There is concern that such devices could mask clinical deterioration, however this has not been reported to date.

Conclusions: So far, trials involving different algorithms are heterogenous in design and no head-to-head comparisons have been made, making it difficult to differentiate which algorithm is most effective and what clinicians can expect from algorithms under certain conditions.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	intensive care, neonatology, paediatric practice, respiratory, technology
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Paediatrics
Research Field:	Paediatrics not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health)
Objective Field:	Neonatal and child health
UTAS Author:	Dargaville, PA (Professor Peter Dargaville)
ID Code:	140313
Year Published:	2020
Web of Science® Times Cited:	16
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2020-08-06
Last Modified:	2022-08-25
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