St. Charles Bend is using a new kind of ventilator in its neonatal ICU – the first in the state

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Infants and newborns can now breathe easier at St. Charles Bend, due to a new ventilator technology in the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, officials said Tuesday.

St. Charles is the first NICU in Oregon to use Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA), which helps make breathing more comfortable for infants who need support. It has been used to assist more than a dozen babies at St. Charles over the past six months, according to a news release that continues below: 

“We are proud to lead the way in Oregon. It’s one more way we are giving babies the best possible start,” said Cammie Egan, an advanced practice provider in the St. Charles NICU. “NAVA is safer and more comfortable than traditional ventilation.

"This is especially important for babies in the NICU whose lungs may have not yet fully developed, as the average gestational age for our NAVA patients is just over 29 weeks.” 

Egan explains NAVA is more comfortable for the patients because it follows the babies’ cues.

Whereas a traditional ventilator helps patients breathe by assisting with the breath on a steady cadence, NAVA assists with breathing by following the patient’s signals.

A catheter with electrodes is placed into the baby’s stomach, where it measures the electrical activity of the diaphragm. 

“That tells us when the baby wants to take a breath and then the ventilator supports that breath. It synchs the ventilator with the patient’s natural respiratory signals,” said Blake Andrews, manager of respiratory therapy for St. Charles.  

Andrews said using NAVA promotes sleep and development. Infants who are cared for with NAVA are able to transition to independent breathing more quickly.