AN EXPERT-SYSTEM TO ASSIST NEONATAL INTENSIVE-CARE

An expert system for neonatal intensive care (ESNIC) for the managemen t of mechanically ventilated neonates on intermittent positive pressur e ventilation (IPPV) has been developed. The system uses the rule base d expert system shell XiPlus (Inference Inc.) and runs on an IBM-compa tible PC. The rules have been derived from the knowledge of two consul tant paediatricians. The inputs to the system are the current ventilat or settings, blood gas tensions and pH. The output of the system is a set of suggested new ventilator settings. The aim of the system is to provide ventilator settings which will maintain the arterial blood gas tensions within an acceptable range, reducing pressures whenever feas ible and increasing pressures only as a last resort. In addition, ESNI C provides data archiving, graphical displays of all parameters, venti lation and discharge summaries. With the 63 patients in the study ESNI C was consulted for 76% of all ventilator adjustments and the advice g iven was accepted on 83% of these occasions.