NEOGANESH - A WORKING SYSTEM FOR THE AUTOMATED CONTROL OF ASSISTED VENTILATION IN ICUS

Automating the control of therapy administered to a patient requires s ystems which integrate the knowledge of experienced physicians. This p aper describes NeoGanesh, a knowledge-based system which controls, in closed-loop, the mechanical assistance provided to patients hospitaliz ed in intensive care units. We report on how new advances in knowledge representation techniques have been used to model medical expertise. The clinical evaluation shows that such a system relieves the medical staff of routine tasks, improves patient care, and efficiently support s medical decisions regarding weaning. To be able to work in closed-lo op and to be tested in real medical situations, NeoGanesh deals with a voluntarily limited problem. However, embedded in a powerful distribu ted environment, it is intended to support future extensions and refin ements and to support reuse of knowledge bases. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce B.V.