A machine to replace anesthesiologists

A new machine may soon replace anesthesiologists. Todd Frankel writes in the Washington Post about one in use in Toledo. A woman was sedated by the machine before undergoing a colonoscopy:

In the Toledo hospital room, Basista told a nurse to begin. She pushed a button on the Sedasys machine, sending a measured dose of a sedation drug flowing into Youssef-Ringle.

The machine monitored her breathing, the oxygen levels in her blood and her heart rate. Youssef-Ringle also wore an earpiece, where a computerized voice periodically instructed her to squeeze a controller in her hand. The goal was to keep her in a period of moderate sedation — unaware but still responsive.

The machine was programmed with conservative parameters. If it detected even the mildest problem, it slowed or cut off the drug’s infusion. And that meant Basista and his two nurses had to constantly keep on top of patients.

“Hey, Nancy, take a deep breath!” a nurse said, when Youssef-Ringle’s blood oxygen was too low for the computer’s liking.

Nancy, in her sleepy state, did. The machine relented. Minutes later, the machine beeped again. Low blood oxygen.

“Hey, Nancy, deep breath! Deep breath!”

...The difference is apparent in the hospital’s nine-bed recovery unit, which used to be filled with drowsy patients after a colonoscopy clinic. Most beds are empty now. Colonoscopy patients are ready to leave in 15 minutes.

Read more here.