Soft Methods for Automatic Drug Infusion in Medical Care Environment

The automatic drug infusion in medical care environment remains an elusive goal due to the inherent specificities of the biological systems under control and to subtle shortcomings of the current models. The central aim of this chapter is to present an overview of soft computing techniques and systems that can be used to ameliorate those problems. The applications of control systems in modern medicine are discussed along with several enabling methodologies. The advantages and limitations of automatic drug infusion systems are analyzed. In order to comprehend the evolution of these systems and identify recent advances and research trends, a survey on the hypertension control problem is provided. For illustration, a state-of-the-art automatic drug infusion controller of Sodium Nitroprusside for the mean arterial pressure is described in detail. The chapter ends with final remarks on future research directions towards a fully automated drug infusion system.

Soft Methods for Automatic Drug Infusion in Medical Care Environment

The automatic drug infusion in medical care environment remains an elusive goal due to the inherent specificities of the biological systems under control and to subtle shortcomings of the current models. The central aim of this chapter is to present an overview of soft computing techniques and systems that can be used to ameliorate those problems. The applications of control systems in modern medicine are discussed along with several enabling methodologies. The advantages and limitations of automatic drug infusion systems are analyzed. In order to comprehend the evolution of these systems and identify recent advances and research trends, a survey on the hypertension control problem is provided. For illustration, a state-of-the-art automatic drug infusion controller of Sodium Nitroprusside for the mean arterial pressure is described in detail. The chapter ends with final remarks on future research directions towards a fully automated drug infusion system.