Computer methods and programs in biomedicine
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Direct cerebral monitoring is not yet in routine use in the intensive care unit or the operating theatre, despite the brain's sensitivity to ischaemia, and the potentially devastating consequences. Instead, reliance is placed upon indirect indicators such as general physiological parameters and observation of reflexes such as pupillary size and reaction to light. ⋯ However, modern methods of processing and integrating data, (electroencephalographic/evoked potentials, haemodynamic and oxygen measures) together with the availability of powerful, robust microprocessors may well facilitate the development of on-line systems which can warn of cerebral deterioration. These would be of particular value in critically ill patients, and those at risk during or after operative procedures such as neurosurgery, cardiopulmonary bypass and carotid endarterectomy.
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Comput Methods Programs Biomed · Aug 1995
Clinical TrialA computer program for automatic measurement of respiratory mechanics in artificially ventilated patients.
A program for automatic and periodic determination of respiratory mechanics in artificially ventilated patients is described. Airway pressure and flow signals are obtained from the ventilator in the controlled ventilation mode with constant flow inflation and end-inspiratory pause. Periodically, the program records both signals for a given time and it delimits a ventilatory cycle and its components out of this record. ⋯ The complete software includes the display of the signals and of the trends together with automatic disk file backups. An additional program allows one to display the trends again and to create table text files containing all the recorded data for further analysis. The system proved to work in ICU and anaesthesia patients with various ventilators.
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Comput Methods Programs Biomed · Oct 1994
TANIT AIM project (A2036): Telematics for ANaesthesia and Intensive Therapy.
On-going work relating to the development of advanced telematics systems for Critical Care environments is described. This work is in part sponsored by the Commission of European Communities under the AIM TANIT project. Two example departments have been selected for piloting in the project: Intensive Care and Anaesthesia. The objective of this paper is to outline the complex issues that need to be addressed when developing such systems.
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Comput Methods Programs Biomed · Aug 1993
Meta-analysis of clinical trials based on censored end-points: simplified theory and implementation of the statistical algorithms on a microcomputer.
Meta-analysis is increasingly being used in clinical research. While the meta-analytical algorithms for pooling the results of studies using non-censored end-points are now sufficiently standardized, the management of trials based on censored end-points is still controversial, and specific algorithms of meta-analysis are still needed (for example, censored end-points are commonly used in survival studies of cancer patients). In the present article we review the various algorithms that have thus far been utilized to perform a meta-analysis based on censored end-points, and we propose a new and original approach that combines two of the existing algorithms. ⋯ The meta-analytical odds ratio proposed here is called the 'log-rank' odds ratio of meta-analysis. A microcomputer program is described that implements the various methods of meta-analysis that can handle clinical trials based on censored end-points. Some examples are presented to illustrate the use of the program.