TMCnet News

PGI software to sound anaesthesia overdose alert [Chandigarh] [Times of India]
[January 24, 2013]

PGI software to sound anaesthesia overdose alert [Chandigarh] [Times of India]


(Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CHANDIGARH: The PGI has finally achieved favourable results in trials of a software that will alert doctors with a beep and cut off supply as soon as the vitals of a patient being administered anaesthesia go critical.



This happens when the blood pressure or dosage of anaesthesia does not match with the requirements of the person to be operated upon. The software, developed in the country for the first time, has an international patent and will be developed into a wireless device by IIT, Ropar soon after technology transfer.

With the help of the system, anaesthesiologists can simultaneously check blood pressure and heart rate, conduct echo-evaluation, airway and respiration management without merely watching the amount of drug injected and waiting for a response.


CLADS or closed loop anaesthesia delivery system, which controls anaesthetic drug delivery automatically based on feedback of its effect on the patient, has been developed under a project funded by the department of information technology, New Delhi.

The computer controlled anaesthesia has been used in PGI for challenging open heart surgeries, non-cardiac surgeries and high altitude.

Dr G D Puri, in-charge of the advanced cardiac centre and his team developed the software in 2000 and in 2008, it went for multicentric trials. The study was completed in November, 2012.

Conventionally, anaesthesia is induced using intravenous medicines and thereafter maintained either with anaesthetic gases or intravenous medicines.

The individual patient response is monitored closely by the attending anaesthesiologist to decide fine-tuning of drug dosing.

"Despite best efforts, there could be delays in display of the monitored value, reading the value, comprehending the change in monitored value and altering drug delivery manually," said Dr Puri.

(c) 2013 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]