Aspect of human ergonomics for anesthesia information systems fitting to the anesthesia workstation

The automated anesthesia record keeper (AARK) with a network connection pro vides us with possibilities. Such possibilities include billing, quality co ntrol and research system. However, it is through the critical path of the human interface that we can realize such probabilities. In 1986, an anesthesia information management project,VOCAAR(R) (voice-orie nted command-automated anesthesia record-keeper) project, was started in Ha mamatsu University Hospital, Hamamatsu, Japan. Giving emphasis to ergonomic aspects, the system was designed to support the natural action of anesthes iologists who should look the patient in the face, "not turn his back to th e patient". The hardware and software were designed to fit to the anesthesia workstatio n. VOCAAR(R) is consists of two main components: a touch panel and a record ing side table. The panel buries a small speaker for voice response and a m icrophone for voice recognition. The table houses an x-y plotter. The mobil e limbs hold both components. At 6 months after the installation, we started an in-house database system, 99.7% of all surgical cases were filed into the electrical database over a period of 10 months. The usability of VOCAAR(R) resulted in a full compute rization of our surgical center, with the database system as a natural cons equence.