Performance evaluation of an anesthetic feedback control loop and uptake assessment of an oil filled lung simulator

Abstract

Feedback control systems in anesthesia consist of advanced algorithms that contribute to less workload of the anesthesiologist, ensures precise concentration adjustments and reduces anesthetic gas consumption. This research paper examines the uptake behavior of isoflurane utilizing the AGC (Automatic Gas Control) algorithm using MAQUET Flow-i 4.7 together with a two-compartment mechanical lung simulator. The motivation is to analyze the performance of automatic gas control with different speed settings because it is crucial for medical staff that operate anesthetic machines to understand which effects the automated regulation of volatile anesthetic agents and oxygen have on humans. MAQUET’s AGC mode allows to control inspired oxygen-(FiO2) and the end-tidal anesthetic (EtAA) concentrations during ventilation. A comparison between different speed modes of the AGC settings shows that higher speed leads to a quicker response and lower settling time of EtAA. But on the other hand results in higher overshoot.