Predictive Adaptive Control of the Bispectral Index of the EEG (BIS) - Using the Intravenous Anaesthetic Drug Propofol

The problem of controlling the level of unconsciousness measured by the Bispectral Index of the EEG (BIS) of patients under anaesthesia, is considered. It is assumed that the manipulated variable is the infusion rate of the hypnotic drug propofol, while the drug remifentanil is also administered for analgesia. Since these two drugs interact, the administration rate of remifentanil is considered as an accessible disturbance. In order to tackle the high uncertain present on the system, the predictive adaptive controller MUSMAR is used. The performance of the controller is illustrated by means of simulation with 45 patient individual adjusted models, which incorporate the effect of the drugs interaction on BIS. This controller structure proved to be robust to the remifentanil disturbance, different reference values and noise. A reduction of propofol consumption was also observed when comparing to the real clinical dose used for a similar BIS trend.