Neurophysiological Monitoring - the Engineer

Abstract

Monitoring “depth of anesthesia” on the main target of anesthesia, the brain, has gained popularity as it completes the information given by vital signs during surgery [1]. Therefore different analysis methods of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and of auditory evoked potentials (AEP) such as method of intelligent data analysis have been presented [2-5]. Resulting signal parameters and multi-parametric indicators should reflect the hypnotic component of anesthesia, with the aim to reduce the risk of intraoperative awareness [6,7]. To optimize and evaluate their performance with respect to specified clinical tasks of anesthesia monitoring, a comprehensive concept for a PC-based development and assessment platform, called NeuMonD, has been presented [8]. This modular Windows based platform may be used for online and off-line analysis and supports a multitude of features: Integration of data from clinical studies with online analysis and visualization allow to assess the performance of the developed methods and indicators in the clinical setting. This includes online interpretation in the context of the clinical situation and the individual patient. In addition, data and signals required for offline indicator design are obtained and stored in a database [9]. For this purpose NeuMonD provides data acquisition, signal processing and pre-processing, online visualization and recording of comments (e.g. clinical events including time stamps) required for later offline analysis. Furthermore, NeuMonD allows simultaneous and synchronized data re-cording from different clinical monitors. Synchronized multi-parameter measurements from different monitoring devices produce a broad basis for assessment of the patient’s state. Features can be flexibly configured using an integrated graphical user interface.