Knowledge-based techniques for alarm rationalisation in patient monitoring

The goal of an intelligent monitor is to continuously interpret data acquired from critically ill patients, providing relevant alarms and causal explanations for any abnormalities. One of the key aspects of this will be the monitor´s ability to generate and manage alarms, providing the clinician with a timely description of the problem. The description of current problems must also be in a manner that allows the clinician to easily identify and treat the problem. The paper describes work in progress on alarm rationalisation-the process of generating alarms, removing false ones and creating a structured view of the remaining active alarm set. It is particularly concerned with the knowledge-based techniques employed in this process and describes a three-stage design for alarm rationalisation. The rationalisation process will help the intelligent monitor to provide a timely and easily assimilated description of the problem