Journal of clinical monitoring and computing
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2013
ReviewPotential of surface acoustic wave biosensors for early sepsis diagnosis.
Early diagnosis of sepsis is a difficult problem for intensivists and new biomarkers for early diagnosis have been difficult to come by. Here we discuss the potential of adapting a technology from the electronics industry, surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors, for diagnosis of multiple markers of sepsis in real time, using non-invasive assays of exhaled breath condensate. The principles and advantages of the SAW technology are reviewed as well as a proposed plan for adapting this flexible technology to early sepsis detection.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2013
Comparative StudyBaroreflex sensitivity variations in response to propofol anesthesia: comparison between normotensive and hypertensive patients.
The aim of this paper is to compare baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) following anesthesia induction via propofol to pre-induction baseline values through a systematic and mathematically robust analysis. Several mathematical methods for BRS quantification were applied to pre-operative and intra-operative data collected from patients undergoing major surgery, in order to track the trend in BRS variations following anesthesia induction, as well as following the onset of mechanical ventilation. Finally, a comparison of BRS trends in chronic hypertensive patients (CH) with respect to non hypertensive (NH) patients was performed. 10 NH and 7 CH patients undergoing major surgery with American Society of Anesthesiologists classification score 2.5 ± 0.5 and 2.6 ± 0.5 respectively, were enrolled in the study. ⋯ A larger decrease in ABP was observed in CH patients when compared to NH patients, whereas HR remained unaltered and BRS was found to be lower than in the NH group at baseline, with no significant changes in the following epochs when compared to baseline. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which the autonomic response to propofol induction in CH and NH patients was compared. The analysis of BRS through a mathematically rigorous procedure in the perioperative period could result in the availability of additional information to guide therapy and anesthesia in uncontrolled hypertensive patients, which are prone to a higher rate of hypotension events occurring during general anesthesia induction.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2013
Observational StudyReduced complexity of intracranial pressure observed in short time series of intracranial hypertension following traumatic brain injury in adults.
Physiological parameters, such as intracranial pressure (ICP), are regulated by interconnected feedback loops, resulting in a complex time course. According to the decomplexification theory, disease is characterised by a loss of feedback loops resulting in a reduced complexity of the time course of physiological parameters. We hypothesized that complexity of the ICP time series is decreased during periods of intracranial hypertension (IHT) following adult traumatic brain injury. ⋯ In addition, MSE revealed a significantly (p < 0.05) decreased entropy at scaling factors ranging from 1 to 10. Both the increase in α as well as the decrease in SampEn and MSE indicate a loss of ICP complexity. Therefore following traumatic brain injury, periods of IHT seem to be characterised by a decreased complexity of the ICP waveform.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2013
Impaired cerebrovascular reactivity after acute traumatic brain injury can be detected by wavelet phase coherence analysis of the intracranial and arterial blood pressure signals.
The objective of the study was to evaluate the wavelet spectral energy of oscillations in the intracranial pressure (ICP) signal in patients with acute traumatic brain injury (TBI). The wavelet phase coherence and phase shift in the 0.006-2 Hz interval between the ICP and the arterial blood pressure (ABP) signals were also investigated. Patients were separated into normal or impaired cerebrovascular reactivity, based on the pressure reactivity index (PRx). ⋯ We conclude that the wavelet transform of the ICP signal shows spectral peaks at the cardiac, respiratory and 0.03 Hz frequencies. Normal cerebrovascular reactivity seems to be manifested as increased spectral energy in the frequency interval <0.14 Hz. A phase shift between the ICP and ABP signals in the interval 0.07-0.14 Hz indicates normal cerebrovascular reactivity, while a phase shift in the interval 0.006-0.07 Hz indicates altered cerebrovascular reactivity.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2013
A simple model of the right atrium of the human heart with the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes included.
Existing atrial models with detailed anatomical structure and multi-variable cardiac transmembrane current models are too complex to allow to combine an investigation of long time dycal properties of the heart rhythm with the ability to effectively simulate cardiac electrical activity during arrhythmia. Other ways of modeling need to be investigated. Moreover, many state-of-the-art models of the right atrium do not include an atrioventricular node (AVN) and only rarely--the sinoatrial node (SAN). ⋯ Our simulations support the hypothesis that the alternans of the conduction time between the atria and the ventricles in the AV orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia can occur within a single pathway. In the atrial parasystole simulation, we found a mathematical condition which allows for a rough estimation of the location of the parasystolic source within the atrium, both for simplified (planar) and the cylindrical geometry of the atrium. The planar and the cylindrical geometry yielded practically the same results of simulations.