Automatic tube compensation.

In this article automatic tube compensation (ATC) is described with respect to working principle, to technical realization, and to clinical experience. ATC, based on an indirect closed-loop working principle, compensates for the flow-dependent pressure drop across the tracheal tube during both inspiration and expiration. ATC reduces patient work of breathing, increases respiratory comfort, and allows prediction of successful extubation. ATC is not a stand-alone ventilatory mode, but rather a component of flow-proportional pressure support that can be combined with all conventional ventilatory modes.