System and method for detecting ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)

1. A processing system for detecting precursors of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in a patient being ventilated, the processing system comprises:

a memory storing:

a baseline value for a content of a particular volatile organic compound (VOC) in the totality of multiple Volatile Organic Compounds (tVOCs) in exhaled breath of the patient being ventilated; and

a trending log including values of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs measured at various points of time; and

a processor operably connected to the memory and configured to:

trend changes of the values of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs measured at various points of time compared to the baseline value;

determine whether the patient potentially has infection-based VAP based at least in part on the trending, wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises adjusting a predefined threshold value indicating the infection-based VAP in response to determining that the patient was re-intubated; and

in response to determining that the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP, generate a recommendation indicating a diagnosis, a treatment, or a combination thereof.

2. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the baseline value for the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs includes a content of ethanol in the tVOCs in the exhaled breath of the patient measured during the first hour of ventilation.

3. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the patient has infection-based VAP comprises:

comparing an increase of the values of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs in a predefined amount of time with the predefined threshold value; in response to the increase being greater than the predefined threshold value, determining that the patient has the infection-based VAP.

4. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises:

determining whether the trend of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs suggests VAP infection;

determining whether another physiological parameter is abnormal; and

in response to determining the trend suggests VAP infection and the another physiological parameter is abnormal, determining that the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP.

5. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises incorporating the trending of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs into another workflow for diagnosing VAP.

6. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the recommendation includes a targeted administration of antibiotic therapy based on a timing of diagnosis of the infection-based VAP.

7. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

continue to trend the changes of the values of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs measured after an antibiotic therapy is applied on the patient; and determine efficiency of the antibiotic therapy based on the trending.

8. A method for facilitating diagnosis of VAP in a patient, the method comprising:

determining whether clinical presentation of the patient suggests VAP infection, wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the VAP infection comprises adjusting a predefined threshold value indicating the VAP infection in response to determining that the patient was re-intubated;

in response to determining that the clinical presentation of the patient does not suggest VAP infection, determining whether a trend of a content of a particular VOC in tVOCs of the patient suggests VAP infection; in response to determining that the trend suggests VAP infection, determining whether a recent chest radiograph of the patient is abnormal; and in response to determining that the recent chest radiograph is abnormal, recommending diagnosis, a treatment, or a combination thereof, directed to the VAP infection.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the clinical features comprise at least some of fever, leukocytosis, and leukopenia along with purulent.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the trend of the patient includes a trend of changes of ethanol content in the tVOCs in exhaled breath of the patient measured at various points of time after ventilation.

11. A method for detecting precursors of VAP in a patient being ventilated, the method comprises:

obtaining a baseline value for a content of a particular VOC in the tVOCs in exhaled breath of the patient being ventilated;

trending changes of values of the content of the VOC in the tVOCs measured at various points of time after ventilation compared to the baseline value;

determining whether the patient potentially has infection-based VAP based at least in part on the trending, wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises adjusting a predefined threshold value indicating the infection-based VAP in response to determining that the patient was re-intubated; and

in response to determining that the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP, generating a recommendation indicating a diagnosis, a treatment, or a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the baseline value for the content of the particular VOC includes a content of ethanol in the tVOCs in the exhaled breath of the patient measured during the first hour of ventilation.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises:

comparing an increase of the values of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs in a predefined amount of time with the predefined threshold value;

in response to the increase being greater than the predefined threshold value, determining that the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predefined threshold value is determined based on demographics of the patient.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises:

determining whether the trend of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs suggests VAP infection;

determining whether another physiological parameter is abnormal; and

in response to determining the trend suggests VAP infection and the another physiological parameter is abnormal, determine that the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining whether the patient potentially has the infection-based VAP comprises incorporating the trending of into another workflow for diagnosing VAP.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the recommendation includes a targeted administration of antibiotic therapy based on a timing of diagnosing VAP infection.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

continuing to trend the changes of the values of the content of the particular VOC in the tVOCs measured after an antibiotic therapy is applied on the patient; and

determining efficiency of the antibiotic therapy based on the trending.