Performance characteristics of pressure infusors.

Pressure infusion devices (PID) are used in trauma hospitals and in military applications to enhance rapid fluid replacement of hypovolemic shocked patients. This work presents a simple inexpensive technique for evaluation of the performance characteristics of pressure infusors. Pressure-volume and volume-time curves of pneumatic and spring-activated infusors have been derived for pressurized infusion with various output resistances. Three indices of performance are suggested for evaluation of pressure infusors: the energy to discharge fluid from the bag, efficiency index and time required to empty 50% of the bag.