Exhalation sensitivity (Esens) or flow termination setting is a commonly under optimized setting by clinicians
Incorrect setting of Esens can cause the ventilator to cycle the breath prematurely while the patient is still inhaling (early cycle) or terminate the breath after the patient is already trying to exhale (late cycle).
Early cycling is frequently the cause of double-triggering, as continued patient inspiratory effort during the expiratory phase can be detected by the ventilator as another trigger.
As the patient’s condition changes over time, the set Esens level from an hour ago or an hour from now may no longer be optimal and the patient may struggle, becoming asynchronous with the ventilator.
Auto Esens is a feature that addresses this and replaces the fixed Esens setting. When active, it continuously analyzes, on a breath-by-breath basis, the pressure profile of spontaneous breaths and automatically increases or decreases the Esens setting to match the patient’s changing needs