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Biomedical subjects

N T Smith

Publications and source records attributed to N T Smith.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Cardiovascular simulation using a multiple modeling method on a digital computer--simulation of interaction between the cardiovascular system and angiotensin II.

A cardiovascular system model that simulates interactive responses to drugs has been developed on a small digital computer. The overall model basically consists of three models. The first is a momentum transport model that represents relations between blood pressure and flow in the cardiovascular system. In this model, the cardiovascular system is divided into 14 components and modeled by using equivalent electrical circuits. The second is a mass transport model comprising 14 compartments corresponding to the respective components of the cardiovascular system. This model represents the distribution of the administered drug in the various cardiovascular components. The third is an interaction model that represents the relationships between the momentum and mass transport models. This model causes variations in the resistance and capacitance parameters of the momentum transport model as a function of the current drug concentrations in the appropriate compartments of the mass transport model. The capacitances representing the ventricles are varied in a time-dependent fashion to simulate the beat of the heart. Simulation is performed by using the Euler method to solve a system of 28 ordinary differential equations governing the momentum and mass transport models on a 32-bit microcomputer, a Macintosh II. The model was assessed by performing two demonstrations of the cardiovascular response to the vasopressor angiotensin II (AT II). They first examined the interaction between the cardiovascular system and AT II. The effect of AT II on the cardiovascular system was incorporated into the interaction model. Administration of AT II as a constant infusion (200 micrograms/hr) resulted in an elevation of mean arterial pressure from approximately 100 to 150 mm Hg.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1992

Improved safety and efficacy in adaptive control of arterial blood pressure through the use of a supervisor.

This paper presents a dual approach to adaptive control of arterial blood pressure using sodium nitroprusside. In the clinical environment, a controller must be aggressive to achieve specific step response characteristics (less than 10 min settling time, less than 10 mm Hg overshoot), yet conservative enough to prevent overreactions to large disturbances, which are common in both the operating room and the intensive care unit. These mutually exclusive requirements make it difficult to design a closed-loop controller for this environment. To prevent possible overreactions, while maintaining proper step response, an aggressive adaptive controller has been designed to achieve the desired step response, and a SUPERVISOR has been designed around the adaptive controller to limit potential overreactions in the presence of disturbances. Simulations and dog experiments demonstrate the potential for increased safety and efficacy using this dual approach to the control of a complex physiological system.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Supervisory adaptive control of arterial pressure during cardiac surgery.

A supervisory adaptive controller has been designed for the closed-loop control of mean arterial pressure during cardiac surgery, using sodium nitroprusside. This controller consists of a pole-placement and proportional-plus-integral feedback regulator, multiple-model adaptation, and a supervisor. The pole-placement and proportional-plus-integral regulator was designed to meet aggressive step response characteristics. Multiple-model adaptation was chosen to ensure rapid and stable adjustments for changes in key patients parameters. The supervisor was designed to provide safety and efficacy of control during disturbances that are common during cardiac surgery. We studied the ability of this supervisory adaptive controller to regulate arterial pressure during cardiac surgery on nineteen patients. The controller, through the action of the supervisor, detected and responded appropriately to the great majority of disturbances. This study demonstrated that supervisory adaptive control has the potential to provide clinically acceptable regulation of arterial pressure.

Cardiac Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed1991

Brain sites mediating opiate-induced muscle rigidity in the rat: methylnaloxonium mapping study.

Previous work has demonstrated that direct injections of methylnaloxonium (MN), a hydrophilic quaternary opiate antagonist, in the area of the nucleus raphe pontis (RPn) significantly attenuated alfentanil-induced muscle rigidity in the rat. To extend these observations and to explore further the regions important for opiate-induced rigidity, rats were implanted with chronic guide cannulae aimed at discrete brain sites with an emphasis on the region from the periaqueductal grey (PAG) to the RPn. Each animal was pretreated by a blinded observer with an intracerebral injection of MN (125 ng total dose) or saline, and electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from the gastrocnemius muscle. Alfentanil (ALF; 500 micrograms/kg) was then administered subcutaneously and the magnitude of tonic EMG activity was assessed as a measure of hindlimb rigidity. The administration of MN into the pontine raphe nucleus (RPn) and also into the more lateral nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis significantly attenuated ALF rigidity compared with saline-pretreated controls. Within the midbrain, MN selectively reversed rigidity when injected into the periaqueductal grey (PAG). The dorsal PAG appeared to be a more important site than the ventral PAG. There was no significant effect on ALF rigidity of MN injections into brain regions between the ventral PAG and the RPn while MN injections into the deep layers of the superior colliculus, lateral to the dorsal PAG, partially attenuated ALF rigidity. In contrast, rigidity was not consistently reversed after MN injections into the basal ganglia, the dorsal superior colliculus, or the region of the decussation of the dorsal tegmentum. This study provides strong evidence that nuclei of the reticular formation, specifically the PAG, raphe pontis, and reticularis tegmenti pontis that are known to play a role in other opioid-mediated behaviors, are important in opiate-induced muscle rigidity in the rat. These results could have implications for the prevention of this undesirable effect of high-dose opiate administration.

Alfentanil↗
PubMed1990

Recognition accuracy with a voice-recognition system designed for anesthesia record keeping.

We tested on three occasions, with anesthetists as subjects, the accuracy of two voice-recognition systems designed for anesthetic record keeping. Initially, a prototype system was tested (10 subjects); several years later the resulting commercial system was tested in a quiet environment (11 subjects) and in noisy operating rooms (10 subjects). For each test an anesthetist first trained the system to recognize his or her voice by reading aloud a list of common anesthetic terms. To determine recognition accuracy, the percentage of words recognized correctly by the computer, each subject repeated the vocabulary words ten times. Although accuracy was similar during the three tests, it was slightly higher with the laboratory test (mean percent of words recognized correctly, 96.5%; range of accuracy for individual anesthetists, 91.6 to 98.8%) than with the prototype test (95.9%; range, 89.1 to 99.6%). Accuracy was lowest with the operating room test (95.3%; range, 87.8 to 98.4%). Twenty-four words caused particular difficulty during the laboratory test and were eliminated from the vocabulary of the subsequent operating room test. Omitting these 24 words from the laboratory vocabulary list allowed a more nearly direct comparison with the results from the operating room list; recognition accuracy improved in the former to 97.5% (range, 92.1 to 98.9%). Two anesthetists--one each from the laboratory and operating room tests--performed poorly, and eliminating their scores changed the respective overall scores to 98.2% (range, 96.7 to 98.9%) and 96.5% (range, 94.3 to 98.4%). Thus, the corrected difference between the laboratory accuracy and the operating room accuracy was 1.7%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1989

Pulse oximetry and finger blood pressure measurement during open-heart surgery.

Pulse oximeter arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO2) and finger arterial pressure (FINAP) were continuously monitored before, during, and after cardiopulmonary bypass in 15 male patients. SpO2 was monitored simultaneously with two pulse oximeters, a Nellcor N-100 and an Ohmeda Biox III. The readings obtained from the two pulse oximeters were compared with arterial blood measurements obtained using a CO-oximeter. FINAP was monitored by a prototype device (Finapres) based on the Penaz volume-clamp method. FINAP was correlated with intraarterial pressure (IAP). Both pulse oximeters functioned well before cardiopulmonary bypass. The correlations with CO-oximeter values were 0.927 for the N-100 and 0.921 for the Biox III. Immediately after the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass, the N-100 pulse oximeter stopped displaying values. The Biox III pulse oximeter continued to display values during the cardiopulmonary bypass period; the correlation with CO-oximeter values was 0.813. After cardiopulmonary bypass, the N-100 began displaying values in 2 to 10 minutes. After cardiopulmonary bypass the correlation with CO-oximeter values was 0.792 for the N-100 and 0.828 for the Biox III pulse oximeter. The Finapres finger blood pressure device functioned well in 13 of 15 patients before cardiopulmonary bypass. The mean bias +/- precision of FINAP-IAP for mean pressure was 8.3 +/- 10.2 mm Hg (SD) and the correlation coefficient was 0.814. During cardiopulmonary bypass, the Finapres device functioned well in 10 of 15 patients. The mean bias precision of FINAP-IAP, for mean pressure in these 10 patients was 6.6 +/- 8.7 mm Hg and the correlation coefficient was 0.902.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Aging and alfentanil disposition in healthy volunteers and surgical patients.

We studied the pharmacokinetic disposition of alfentanil in 20 volunteers and in 15 surgical patients 20-72 years old. Pharmacokinetic disposition was first order and was well described by a two-compartment open model. Central-compartment volume of distribution was 0.131 +/- 0.087 L.kg-1 (mean +/- SD) in young healthy volunteers and decreased modestly with increasing age (r = -0.32, P less than 0.05). However, apparent volume of distribution at steady-state, 0.404 +/- 0.205 L.kg-1 for the whole study cohort, was not age-related. Plasma clearance of alfentanil in young healthy subjects, 9.3 +/- 6.3 ml.kg-1.min-1, also showed an inverse relationship with age (r = -0.54, P less than 0.001), and was not affected by surgical stress in subjects older than 60 years. Cigarette smoking and sex of the subjects did not contribute to interindividual differences in the kinetic disposition of this drug. Our finding that interindividual differences in disposition of alfentanil were the least in older subjects suggests that its pharmacological effects related to pharmacokinetic disposition should be most predictable in the elderly.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Seizures during opioid anesthetic induction--are they opioid-induced rigidity?

The tape recorded EEGs of 127 patients anesthetized with large doses of opioids were retrospectively analyzed for evidence of opioid-induced seizures, and in particular, correlated with movements that occurred during induction and could be clinically interpreted as seizures. Bilateral EEG leads in patients receiving fentanyl (20), sufentanil (20), or alfentanil (87) were recorded. Forty-six of these patients from all opioid groups manifested intense rigidity, as assessed both clinically and by EMGs recorded from eight muscles in 69 of the patients receiving alfentanil. This intense rigidity often resembled seizures, in that the phenomenon entailed severe stiffness of both limbs and trunk, with an explosive onset of myoclonic limb movements, and associated vertical nystagmus. Electroencephalographic observations were extensive, entailing 69 h of paper recordings played back from the tapes, at paper speeds of 30 or 60 mm/s, with detailed annotations from the voice track. These paper recordings were examined in detail independently by three of the investigators, who were unaware of the clinical phenomena that had occurred. The only observed EEG activity that could have been interpreted as epileptiform consisted of small sharp waves related to muscle activity or other artifact. The EEG never indicated seizure activity during these drug-induced movements and rigidity. Reports of opioid-induced seizures are reviewed and a set of criteria is offered to help achieve future consistency and credibility in evaluating this phenomenon. The available evidence does not support the existence of opioid-induced seizures in the clinical setting.

Alfentanil↗
PubMed1979

The "D circle": closed-circuit operation of the Bain circuit.

A method of converting a Mapleson D (Bain) circuit to closed-circuit operation is presented, utilizing a laboratory air pump and a Waters carbon dioxide absorber canister to recirculate exhaled gas. The elimination of carbon dioxide from the circuit was studied and found to be adequate. The circuit would allow the use of low fresh gas flows for the maintenance of anaesthesia without the danger of carbon dioxide rebreathing. We suggest that such a circuit could provide appropriate conditions of gas humidity and temperature for endotracheal anaesthesia, while realizing the advantage of a circulator in mask anaesthesia is possible. Further design considerations for a "D circle" breathing system for clinical use are discussed.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1977

Inorganic fluoride nephrotoxicity: prolonged enflurane and halothane anesthesia in volunteers.

The effects of prolonged enflurane and halothane administration on urine-concentrating ability were determined in volunteers by examining their responses to vasopressin before anesthesia and on days 1 and 5 after anesthesia. A significant decrease in maximum urinary osmolality of 264 +/- 34 mOsm/kg (26 per cent of the preanesthetic value) was present on day 1 after enflurane anesthesia, whereas subjects anesthetized with halothane had a significant increase in maximum urinary osmolality of 120 +/- 44 mOsm/kg. Serum inorganic fluoride level peaked at 33.6 muM and remained above 20 muM for approximately 18 hours. Thus, the threshold level for inorganic fluoride nephrotoxicity is lower than previously suspected.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Enzyme induction by enflurane in man.

Concentrations of 6-beta-hydroxycortisol (6-OHF), a polar metabolite of cortisol formed in the endoplasmic reticulum (microsomes) of the liver, and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) were measured in the urines of six healthy adult male volunteers exposed to a mean of 9.6 MAC-hours of enflurane anesthesia as an index of possible enzyme induction. The ratio of 6-OHF to 17-OHCS in 24-hour urine specimens collected five days before anesthesia was compared with the ratio of these metabolites in 24-hour urine specimens collected 16 to 18 hours after anesthesia. The ratio of 6-OHF to 17-OHCS increased markedly in five and decreased slightly in one volunteer following anesthesia. The results indicate that enflurane may cause induction of hepatic microsomal enzymes.

17-Hydroxycorticosteroids↗
PubMed1976

Failure of enflurane and halothane anesthesia to inhibit lymphocyte transformation in volunteers.

Changes in the peripheral blood leukocyte count and in the ability of lymphocytes to transform in response to phytohemagglutinin were studied in healthy volunteers undergoing prolonged enflurane or halothane anesthesia without coincident surgical operation. Anesthesia was associated with a modest leukocytosis that persisted into the first post-anesthesic day, primarily due to an influx of neutrophils into the circulation. There was no significant alteration, either during or following anesthesia, in the ability of the volunteers' lymphocytes to transform in response to phytohemagglutinin when compared with either preanesthetic values or unanesthetized controls. Depression of lymphocyte transformation does not appear to follow prolonged enflurane or halothane anesthesia in the absence of a surgical procedure.

Anesthesia, Inhalation↗
PubMed1976

A computer module for the continuous monitoring of cardiac output in the operating theatre and the ICU.

A new pulse contour method to determine stroke volume and cardiac output continuously in patients on a beat-to-beat basis from the aortic pressure wave has been implemented in the form of a simple, inexpensive, fully automatic computing module for a commercially available patients monitoring system (Philips Medical Systems). Its reliability has been tested and shown in a computer analog, in experimental studies in 10 dogs (not reported here), in 22 hemodynamic studies on 20 young healthy volunteers and during 41 days in 20 postsurgical patients in the ICU, the most important result being that erros figures (15 and 19% respectively in the two human studies) are of the same order as when two standard methods, Fick and dye dilution are compared. The clinical studies have further indicated the easy applicability of the module 1 degree in the monitoring of critically ill patients in ICU's, 2 degrees as a monitor of the systemic circulation during anesthesia, and 3 degrees as a tool for studying the hemodynamic effects of pharmacological agents. The instrument consitutes no burden to the patients and has, several times during the course of the evaluation, provided an early warning of a deteriorating hemodynamic status of the patient to the physician.

Age Factors↗