• Stephen Edward Rees, Søren Kjaergaard, Per Perthorgaard, Jerzy Malczynski, Egon Toft, and Steen Andreassen.
• Center for Model Based Medical Decision Support, Aalborg University, Denmark.
• J Clin Monit Comput. 2002 Jan 1; 17 (1): 43-52.

ObjectiveClinical measurements of pulmonary gas exchange abnormalities might help prevent hypoxaemia and be useful in monitoring the effects of therapy. In clinical practice single parameters are often used to describe the abnormality e.g., the "effective shunt." A single parameter description is often insufficient, lumping the effects of several abnormalities. A more detailed picture can be obtained from experiments where FiO2 is varied and two parameters estimated. These experiments have previously taken 30-40 minutes to complete, making them inappropriate for routine clinical use. However with automation of data collection and parameter estimation, the experimental time can be reduced to 10-15 minutes.MethodsA system has been built for non-invasive, Automatic, Lung Parameter Estimation (ALPE). This system consists of a ventilator, a gas analyser with pulse oximeter, and a computer. Computer programs control the experimental procedure, collect data from the ventilator and gas analyser, and estimate pulmonary gas exchange parameters. Use of the ALPE system, i.e. in estimating gas exchange parameters and reducing experimental time, has been tested on five normal subjects, two patients before and during diuretic therapy, and on 50 occasions in patients before and after surgical intervention.ResultsThe ALPE system provides estimation of pulmonary gas exchange parameters from a simple, clinical, non-invasive procedure, automatically and quickly. For normal subjects and in patients receiving diuretic therapy, data collection by clinicians familiar with ALPE took (mean +/- SD) 13 min 40 sec +/- 1 min 23 sec. For studies on patients before and after surgery, data collection by an intensive care nurse took (mean +/- SD) 10 min 47 sec +/- 2 min 14 sec. Parameter estimates were: for normal subjects, shunt = 4.95% +/- 2.64% and fA2 = 0.89 +/- 0.01; for patients with heart failure prior to diuretic therapy, patient 1, shunt = 11.50% fA2 = 0.41, patient 2 shunt = 11.61% fA2 = 0.55; and during therapy: patient 1, shunt = 11.51% fA2 = 0.71, patient 2, shunt = 11.22% fA2 = 0.49.ConclusionsThe ALPE system provides quick, non-invasive estimation of pulmonary gas exchange parameters and may have several clinical applications. These include, monitoring pulmonary gas exchange abnormalities in the ICU, assessing post-operative gas exchange abnormalities, and titrating diuretic therapy in patients with heart failure.

9 keywords...

hide…