An interactive mechanical ventilation simulator for anaesthesia and intensive care education, running in the terminal or browser. Bellows lets you change ventilator settings and lung mechanics, then watch how pressure, flow, and volume waveforms respond in real time.

Overview

Bellows is a Python application for exploring how ventilator settings and patient lung mechanics shape each breath. It displays live waveforms alongside measurements such as peak airway pressure, tidal volume, and minute ventilation.

The simulator supports volume control, pressure control, pressure-regulated volume control, and airway pressure release ventilation. Adjustable lung models range from constant compliance to pressure-volume curves that represent recruitment, overdistension, and hysteresis. Patient presets provide starting points for exploring different patterns of lung mechanics.

It is designed for teaching, demonstration, and experimentation with a simplified lung model.

Code

The source code and instructions for running Bellows are on GitHub.