Kristen Merriman
Director of Respiratory Care Services, Pulmonary Function Laboratory & Interventional Pulmonary Program at Stanford University Medical Center
Kristen Merriman has worked in respiratory therapy for over 25-years specializing in adult and pediatric emergency and critical care. While providing for patients at the bedside, she completed her advanced degrees in astrophysics and spent two years analyzing the chemical composition of star clusters around fossil galaxies to understand their evolutionary history. She has served as an instructor of both respiratory care and physics at the undergraduate level.
In 2008, she returned to respiratory care to work in an administrative capacity. She has published works in both Respiratory Care and Physics including an image featured on National Geographic’s “Photo in the News” website. Her most recent collaboration to reduce pressure injuries related to positive airway pressure masks was recently presented in Rome at the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. In 2014, she presented at the California State Society of Respiratory Care conference a novel method for administering Treprostinil to an intubated patient using a vibrating mesh nebulizer.
Title: Challenges and Limitations with Continuous Administration of Inhaled Prostacyclins
- Inhaled prostacyclins may prove beneficial in treatment of refractory hypoxemia and pulmonary hypertension. Traditional pneumatic jet nebulizers introduce additional flow that can interfere with microprocessor controlled mechanical ventilators. Vibrating mesh technology provides unreliable nebulization and with no audible alarm systems
- Wasted medication results from both vibrating mesh and pneumatic jet nebulizers running continuously throughout the patient's respiratory cycle (inhalation and exhalation)
- Pneumatic jet nebulizers powered by built-in ventilator port results in breath-actuated delivery and consistent alarm features without negatively impacting advanced features provided by microprocessor driven life support systems