Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by CoolHand on Wednesday May 13 2015, @10:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the machines-replacing-the-very-skilled-laborer dept.

Say hello to the hunk of plastic that could replace your anesthesiologist. Right now, only four U.S. hospitals are using the Sedasys anesthesiology machine to sedate patients before surgery. Johnson & Johnson has been cautiously rolling out the machine after winning approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2013. The FDA originally rejected the machine in 2010, but later approved after Johnson & Johnson agreed it would only be used for simple screenings--like colonoscopies or endoscopies--and only when an anesthesiology doctor or nurse was on-call.

The machine administers a measured dose of propofol to the patient, and the drug acts quickly. To keep patients safe, the machine is programmed with conservative parameters. Even the slightest problem--for example, if the patient has low blood oxygen or a slow heart rate--slows or stops the drug's infusion. According to the Washington Post, the machine has stricter limits than a human anesthesiologist would have.

http://www.popsci.com/meet-machine-could-replace-anesthesiologists

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by zeigerpuppy on Thursday May 14 2015, @11:43AM

    by zeigerpuppy (1298) on Thursday May 14 2015, @11:43AM (#182861)

    show me a machine that can manage fluids, airway, drugs, allergic reactions, the surgeon pulling on something they shouldn't....
    and you may have an argument, machines aren't very good in flexible tasks

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Dunbal on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:37PM

    by Dunbal (3515) on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:37PM (#183044)

    Yup, and then you get the guy saying "oh but we're only going to use it for colonoscopies". You know. That admin guy, who never went to medical school and has no idea what a stimulated Vagus nerve can do. There's a reason there is a defibrillator in the room where colonoscopies are performed (or there should be).