Ketamine, propofol and low dose remifentanil versus propofol and remifentanil for ERCP outside the operating room: is ketamine not only a "rescue drug"?

Background: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography ERCP is a painful and long procedure requiring transient deep analgesia and conscious sedation. An ideal anaesthetic that guarantees a rapid and smooth induction, good quality of maintenance, lack of adverse effects and rapid recovery is still lacking. This study aimed to compare safety and efficacy of a continuous infusion of low dose remifentanil plus ketamine combined with propofol in comparison to the standard regimen dose of remifentanil plus propofol continuous infusion during ERCP.

Non-contact detection of breathing using a microwave sensor.

In this paper the use of a continuous-wave microwave sensor as a non-contact tool for quantitative measurement of respiratory tidal volume has been evaluated by experimentation in seventeen healthy volunteers. The sensor working principle is reported and several causes that can affect its response are analyzed. A suitable data processing has been devised able to reject the majority of breath measurements taken under non suitable conditions.

A versatile microwave plethysmograph for the monitoring of physiological parameters.

A simple microwave technique for in vivo monitoring of human pulmonary and cardiac activity is here presented. The technique is based on detecting the changes in the modulation envelope of amplitude modulated waves passing through the human body. A simplified human chest model was developed, proving an unambiguous correlation between heart blood filling and microwave transmission through the chest.