Decision Support for Early Intervention through Gas Exchange Ventilation - Perfusion Analysis

Recent studies show a drastic decrease in the mortality of sepsis when it is diagnosed within the first two hours of arrival to Emergency and immediate implementation of Early Goal Directed Therapy (EGDT) occurs. Therapy is normally guided by central venous oxygen content (C_cvO₂) which serves as a surrogate for mixed venous oxygen content (C_vO₂). Either parameter requires catheterization, adding one to two hours delay in establishing therapy and furthering septic risk. This paper proposes a quick, accurate, and noninvasive method to measure C_vO₂ and other significant physiological parameters. Clinicians could be guided in trauma patients as well. ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) is a devastating illness which would benefit from early pre-clinical detection, i.e. before clinical symptoms present. Often resulting from severe trauma, patients with ARDS insidiously lose their pulmonary reserve at a time when effective EGDT could be most beneficial.