Signal integration and tele-cooperation in a critical care unit

The data related to a patient in a critical care unit (CCU) consists of biosignals obtained from devices such as the monitor, the respirator and other monitoring equipment. In addition to this data, an image archive is maintained in the radiology department (RD), composed mainly of CT and MRI scans. The major tasks of a CCU information system are to acquire the necessary biosignals from a variety of instruments, to integrate them into a single environment and to communicate with the RD image archiving system in an efficient manner that allows the doctors to collaborate, minimizing the virtual distance between the CCU and the RD. Signal integration specifically in the CCU amounts to a number of smaller subtasks: (a) signal processing for computing useful derived parameters which are not immediately available from the data, (b) smart alarms which enhance the reliability and sensitivity of the available alarms by combining signals from different sources, and (c) the potential of archiving the signals and computing long-term trends which are particularly useful in clinical practice.