Biomedical instrumentation & technology / Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
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Since the Institute of Medicine's well-publicized 1999 report To Err is Human, the healthcare patient safety movement has grown at an exponential pace. However, much more can be done to advance patient safety from a care process design vantage point-improving safety through effective care processes and technology integration. ⋯ Why hasn't more been done to expand our view of patient safety to include technology design? Healthcare organizations have not consolidated their purchasing power to expect improved designs. This article will (1) provide an assessment of the present state of healthcare technology management and (2) provide recommendations for collaborative design of safe healthcare delivery systems.
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Biomed Instrum Technol · Sep 2007
Calculating arterial pressure-based cardiac output using a novel measurement and analysis method.
Work on applying physical and physiological principles for determining cardiac output by analysis of pressure measurements has been pursued for decades. Reference measurements for this kind of cardiac output analysis rely on the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC), considered the clinical gold standard for cardiac output monitoring. ⋯ There are significant challenges in applying statistical- and signal-processing practices to the analysis of complex physiological waveforms. This paper reviews the historical basis for measuring flow from the analysis of pressure in a vessel, establishes the physiological and mathematical basis for this new system and describes its performance under various physiological conditions.
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Biomed Instrum Technol · Sep 2006
Simulation in medicine: addressing patient safety and improving the interface between healthcare providers and medical technology.
Medicine, as an industry in which human lives depend on the skill and performance of operators, must create and maintain a culture of safety, in addition to promoting the design of systems to mitigate errors. The use of medical simulation as a mechanism for training healthcare professionals in a safe environment is expanding rapidly. ⋯ The objective of this paper is to review: (1) the definition and a brief history of medical simulation, (2) examples of how current medical simulation centers are using simulation to address patient safety, and (3) examples of how simulation can be used to enhance patient safety through improvement of the interface between healthcare practitioners and medical technology. Medical simulation and human factors engineering can be used to examine and enhance the interface between healthcare practitioners and medical technology, with the potential to make a significant contribution to patient safety.