Automatic drug delivery in anesthesia - the design of an anesthesia assistant system

Abstract The main goals of general anesthesia are adequate hypnosis, analgesia and maintenance of vital functions. For a number of surgical procedures neuromuscular block is essential. Furthermore patient safety and cost reduction as minimized drug consumption and shortened post-operative recovery are main issues and motivation of automation efforts in anesthesia. Since the beginning of the eighties engineers and physician are working together in the field of the development of closed-loop systems for drug delivery. The work gives only a short overview about the development of the automation in drug delivery systems over the last years without the claim of completeness and expressed the much more vision. In the final stage, the designed control system, the so called “Rostocker assistant system for anesthesia control (RAN)” should be fitted out with the possibility to control four different drugs automatically. Currently the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) control of the depth of hypnosis and neuromuscular blockade is realized as well as the closed-loop control of deep hypotension. A pilot study for the closed-loop control of analgesia is currently running. The paper points some general remarks and the designed MIMO-system for controlling the depth of hypnosis and the neuromuscular blockade