British journal of anaesthesia
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Robotic surgery pushes the frontiers of innovation in healthcare technology towards improved clinical outcomes. We discuss the evolution to five generations of robotic surgical platforms including stereotactic, endoscopic, bioinspired, microbots on the millimetre scale, and the future development of autonomous systems. ⋯ The innovative impact of this technology holds the potential to achieve transformative clinical improvements. However, despite over 30 yr of incremental advances it remains formative in its innovative disruption.
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Comparative Study
Effectiveness of enhanced pulse oximetry sonifications for conveying oxygen saturation ranges: a laboratory comparison of five auditory displays.
Anaesthetists monitor auditory information about a patient's vital signs in an environment that can be noisy and while performing other cognitively demanding tasks. It can be difficult to identify oxygen saturation (SpO2) values using existing pulse oximeter auditory displays (sonifications). ⋯ Enhanced sonifications are more informative than conventional sonification. The implication is that they might allow anaesthetists to judge better when desaturation decreases below, or returns to, a target range.
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Anaesthesia is the largest hospital-based specialty in the UK, and the activities of the anaesthesia workforce underpin the care of all patients in the hospital sector. Changes in the way care will be delivered in the future will impact on the workforce as a consequence of patient requirements and funding issues. This article considers these and other factors in the context of the current and future workforce.
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Observational Study
Changes in platelet Bax levels contribute to impaired platelet response to thrombin after cardiopulmonary bypass: prospective observational clinical and laboratory investigations.
Anucleate platelets can undergo apoptosis in response to various stimuli, as do nucleated cells. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) causes platelet dysfunction and can also activate platelet apoptotic pathways. We therefore evaluated time-dependent changes in blood platelet Bax (a pro-apoptotic molecule) levels and platelet dysfunction after cardiac surgery. ⋯ UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (number UMIN000006033).