Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2006
ReviewIntelligent alarm processing into clinical knowledge.
Alarmed physiological monitors have become a standard part of the ICU. While the alarms generated by these monitors can be important indicators of an altered physiological condition, most are unhelpful to medical staff due to a high incidence of false and clinically insignificant alarms. ⋯ In this paper we review the current state of intelligent alarm processing and describe an integrated systems methodology to extract clinically relevant information from physiological data. Such a method would aid significantly in the reduction of false alarms and provide nursing staff with a more reliable indicator of patient condition.
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2006
An integrated system supporting training in medical and administrative decision making in the emergency department.
The aim of the present project was the development of an integrated computer-based system supporting training in medical and administrative decision making in the Emergency Department. The system comprises of, first, a module supporting on-line acquaintance with Emergency Medical Guidelines, second, a vital-signs monitoring and processing module, and finally an administrative module organizing the most relevant facts about a patient's health status in compliance with the ASTM E2369-0 Standard Specification for Continuity of Care Record, in order to be employed after discharge from the Emergency Care to a hospital ward or to homecare.
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2006
Continuous cardiac output and left atrial pressure monitoring by pulmonary artery pressure waveform analysis.
We introduce a novel technique for continuous (i.e., automatic) monitoring of cardiac output (CO) and left atrial pressure (LAP) by mathematical analysis of a pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) waveform. To obtain an initial evaluation of the technique, we applied it to PAP waveforms obtained from nine critically ill patients and compared the resulting CO and LAP estimates with standard operator-dependent thermodilution and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure measurements, respectively. We report that the technique achieved an overall CO error of 17.2% and an overall LAP error of 15.8%. With further testing, the technique may ultimately be employed so as to permit, for the first time, continuous CO and LAP monitoring in critically ill patients.
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2006
Heat transfer model of hyporthermic intracarotid infusion of cold saline for stroke therapy.
A 3-dimensional hemispheric computational brain model is developed to simulate infusion of cold saline in the carotid arteries in terms of brain cooling for stroke therapy. The model is based on the Pennes bioheat equation, with four tissue layers: white matter, gray matter, skull, and scalp. ⋯ The finite difference method was employed to solve the system of partial differential equations. This model demonstrated a reduction in brain temperature, at the stroke lesion, to 32 degrees C in less than 10 minutes.