Thursday 18 June 2015

Wayne State University Researchers Receive Patent for Advanced Anesthesia Monitoring System


Researchers from Wayne State University, who have innovated a novel method that will assist anesthesiologists with a more effective method of monitoring patients, have received a U.S. patent for their technology. The patent (#8,998,808), will prove especially useful during surgeries where anesthesia doses need to be monitored closely. Typically, anesthesia doses depend on the present medical condition of the patient, the nature of the surgical procedure, physiological variables, and other factors such as drug interactions.

All of these aspects combine to make predicting drug impact a tricky process. Thus far, the medical fraternity has relied on the clinical expertise of anesthesiologists and a high degree of vigilance. But that doesn’t guarantee an error-free anesthesia decision – sometimes, even the most experienced practitioners could go wrong. The consequences of this could range from minor complications to death in extreme cases.

Despite the fact that anesthesia is now much safer as compared to a few decades ago, the need for constantly improving health monitoring during surgery persists. The System for Identifying Patient Response to Anesthesia Infusion was a result of this need. The smart technology is centered on real-time patient monitoring. With this, it is possible to obtain dynamic prediction and individualized monitoring of patients’ vital signs when under anesthesia. From physicians’ perspective, the early warning signals provided by this technology are a definitive help. Any decisions relating to anesthesia depths can be taken with more clarity.

At the center of this new technology lies an information processing methodology that simultaneously tracks physiological signals, drug rates, and analyzes these using stochastic approximation methods to present real-time data.

The team has recently developed a prototype of this advanced monitoring system. The project received financial support from the MUCI program of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

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