Smart alarms from medical devices in the OR and ICU.
Alarms in medical devices are a matter of concern in critical and perioperative care. The high rate of false alarms is not only a nuisance for patients and caregivers, but can also compromise patient safety and effectiveness of care. The development of alarm systems has lagged behind the technological advances of medical devices over the last 20 years. From a clinical perspective, major improvements in alarm algorithms are urgently needed. This review gives an overview of the current clinical situation and the underlying problems, and discusses different methods from statistics and computational science and their potential for clinical application. Some examples of the application of new alarm algorithms to clinical data are presented.
Imhoff
Michael
M
Abteilung für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany. mike@imhoff.de
Kuhls
Silvia
S
Gather
Ursula
U
Fried
Roland
R
D000465:Algorithms; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004868:Equipment Failure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009873:Operating Rooms