Evaluation of BCECF fluorescence ratio imaging to properly measure gastric intramucosal pH variations in vivo.

Our purpose is to evaluate intramucosal gastric pH video imaging by 2('),7(')-bis(carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) fluorescence ratio techniques. We use a video endoscopic imaging system and BCECF as the pH fluorescent probe. Systemic in vivo pH variations are studied in 10 pigs: five in the control group and five with respiratory acidosis induced through rebreathing.

Automatic characterization of events on SpO2 signal: comparison of two methods.

Two methods based on trend extraction have been designed to provide automatic analysis of physiological data recorded on adult patients hospitalized in intensive care unit. We focused our work on the characterization of events occurring on SpO2 signal, this signal being used to detect vital problems. Our aim was to recognize events related to technical or vital problems to assist medical staff in his decision process.

Evaluation of auto-regulated inspiratory support during rebreathing and acute lung injury in pigs.

Background: Auto-regulated inspiratory support mode (ARIS) is an original closed-loop pressure-support system that regulates the slope ("A") and the initial level ("B") of the applied inspiratory pressure, in order to achieve an optimal minute ventilation under constrained respiratory frequency, tidal volume, and maximum inspiratory airway pressure. The servo-controlled design results in a more or less decreasing applied pressure.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ARIS behavior, compared with pressure-support ventilation at a constant applied pressure.

Alarms in the intensive care unit: how can the number of false alarms be reduced?

Many alarms, as they now exist in most monitoring systems, are not usually perceived as helpful by the medical staff because of the high incidence of false alarms. This paper gives an overview of the problems related to their current design and the objectives of monitoring. The current approaches used to improve the situation are then presented from two main standpoints: organizational and behavioural on the one hand, and technical on the other.

Towards symbolization using data-driven extraction of local trends for ICU monitoring.

We propose a methodology for the extraction of local trends from a stream of data. It has been designed to suit the needs of interpretation-oriented visualization and symbolization from ICU monitoring data. After giving implementation details for efficient computation of local trends, we propose the use of a characteristic analysis span for each variable.