A Novel Interoperable Safety System for Improved Coordination and Communication in Cardiac Surgery

Area of Science:

• Medical Devices
• Anesthesiology
• Cardiovascular Surgery

Background:

• During cardiac surgery, patient oxygenation management shifts between anesthesia and perfusion teams.
• Current monitoring systems fail to detect missed ventilation during the transfer of care, risking patient safety.
• This creates a critical need for a reliable system to ensure continuous oxygenation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, interoperable, and context-aware system to ensure safe patient oxygenation during cardiac surgery.
• To address the unmet need for reliable monitoring during the anesthesia-perfusion team handoff.
• To prevent critical hypoxemia events caused by missed ventilation during cardiopulmonary bypass.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel interoperable system using the OpenICE framework.
• The system is designed to be context-aware, detecting the status of ventilation and oxygenation.
• Integration with existing anesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass machines for seamless operation.

Main Results:

• The proposed system aims to detect and act upon missed ventilation events.
• It provides continuous monitoring and alerts, unlike current standby systems.
• The system's interoperability ensures compatibility with diverse medical equipment.

Conclusions:

• A novel system can enhance patient safety during cardiac surgery by ensuring continuous oxygenation.
• Interoperability and context-awareness are key features for effective monitoring during care transitions.
• This technology has the potential to prevent rare but catastrophic "never events" in the operating room.