A CLOSED LOOP ANESTHESIA DELIVERY SYSTEM

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP AN ANESTHESIA DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH MONITORING, ALARM, AND CONTROL CAPABILITIES SO THAT 1. CLOSED CIRCUIT ANESTHESIA CAN BE PERFORMED AS EASILY AS THE SEMICLOSED HIGH-FLOW PROCEDURE CURRENTLY IS, AND 2. THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST'S AWARENESS OF THE STATE OF THE ANESTHESIA AND THE ANESTHESIA EQUIPMENT IS IMPROVED THE SPECIFIC AIMS ARE TO 1. DEVELOP A DIGITAL VALVE/VAPORIZER SYSTEM FOR PRECISION DELIVERY OF ANESTHETIC GAS, 2. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT A MICROCOMPUTER BASED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF INSPIRATORY ANESTHETIC GAS CONCENTRATION AND 3. DEVELOP AN INTELLIGENT ALARM SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF ANESTHESIA ALARM STATES. DURING PHASE I, A STAINLESS STEEL VERSION OF THE DIGITAL VALVE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND TESTED. THE VALVE WILL BE TESTED FOR LONG-TERM RELIABILITY, LIQUID PULSE DELIVERY ACCURACY, AND ITS BEHAVIOR AFTER ANESTHETIC PRESERVATIVE FILM DEPOSITION. THE VAPORIZATION SYSTEM WILL BE TESTED FOR BIAS GAS FLOW (O2, N2O) REQUIREMENT AND THE HEAT FLUX REQUIRED FOR THE MAXIMUM VAPORIZATION RATE REQUIRED. IN PHASE II, THE SYSTEM WILL BE ASSEMBLED, CONTROL AND ALARM SOFTWARE WRITTEN AND THEN TESTED