WiP Abstract: A Closed Loop Control Architecture to Maintain Patient Normothermia during Perioperative Periods

Use of anesthesia and the cold environment of an operating room inhibits thermoregulation in a patient body causing perioperative hypothermia. In the worst case, this situation may cause death. Maintaining normothermia is thus a key requirement during the perioperative period. In today´s state-of-the-art, normothermia is maintained through a number of manual techniques, such as monitoring and controlling the temperature of the warming blankets, fluid warmers, and air conditioning system in the operating room. Since each patient illustrates different response to stimuli, a one-size-fits-all approach to maintaining normothermia is not the right approach. This paper presents ongoing work an autonomous, closed-loop control solution to maintain patient normothermia during perioperative periods.