Software for automated performance tests
Software development project to automate performance tests of patient ventilators
Starting situation
Our customer is a leading manufacturer of patient ventilators and had the goal of accelerating the development process and market launch of new innovative models. To achieve this goal, the customer intended to automate the performance airflow tests of the ventilators, which are frequently done during development and verification process in conjunction with gas flow analyzers. In consultation with IMT it was decided to develop a Windows-based software which could control both ventilator and gas flow analyzer devices and synchronize them during performance tests. This strategy would automate the test procedures and reduce cumbersome and time-consuming manual work for developers, while providing accurate and synchronized measurement test data.
Project objectives
The development project of IMT aimed to develop a user-friendly Windows-based application with following functions:
- Control and configure device settings for customer ventilator model and PF-30x (PF-300, PF-301 or PF-302) flow analyzers from IMT Analytics
- Define test parameters, create, edit and run test sequences
- Receive and evaluate synchronized measurement data
- Log the test parameters and export the results.
Technical implementation
To access the measurement data on ventilator and flow analyzers we used the communication interface, provided by customer. The UI for Windows-based application was based on Blazor Web GUI library, providing a scalable and user-friendly platform for managing and executing the tests. To enable smooth deployment of the application within customer IT infrastructure, the software installer was developed as well.
The developed application enables predefined test sequences from a database to be read and executed automatically and synchronously on both ventilator and flow analyzer. The time-stamped results of the tests are automatically saved as CSV files and can be used for further analysis.
Results
Within 3 months and in close collaboration with customer we developed the novel application.
Now the specific ventilator settings, hardware configurations and combinations can be tested automatically. The application enables the customer to effectively test and optimize the newly developed ventilators. The quick and easy evaluation of the test results saves time for developers and helps to implement necessary adjustments quickly and thus accelerate product development and market launch of the new product. Furthermore, the customer has the ability to further modify the source code of the application and add additional features.
