SUMMARY
UCLA researchers in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Anesthesiology have developed a method for artificial intelligence guided control of anesthetics and other medications during surgery and in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
BACKGROUND
The management of patient hemodynamics during surgery and in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a delicate and complex process that involves multiple trained medical professionals to ensure optimal patient outcomes. Typically, surgeries and ICUs require a trained anesthesiologist or critical care physician to monitor a patient’s physiologic condition and give the proper dosage of medications at the correct time. However, this can be a strenuous process as dosages are patient-specific, thus requiring them to be constantly monitored and adjusted. As such, there is a need to help relieve some of the burden on these professionals with the development of technology that can help monitor and dose the ideal amount of medication for each patient.
INNOVATION
UCLA researchers have developed a method that analyzes data from patients undergoing surgery and treatment in the ICU and provides information regarding the optimal dosage of medications. By automating this process, anesthesiologists and critical care physicians can instead focus on other vital tasks and ensure better patient outcomes. In testing, this method has been proven to be able to adjust automatically to constantly changing factors and correctly respond to changes in patient conditions.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS
ADVANTAGES
RELATED MATERIALS
DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE
The method has been developed and computationally tested.