The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for identification of the degree to which a transient disturbance in ventilation causes changes in measurement of arterial acid-base status. The method applies calculated arterial values of acid-base status obtained from the analysis of venous blood, along with measured values of arterial acid-base status. The differences between calculated and measured values are used to quantify the addition or removal of carbon dioxide necessary to account for transient disturbances in arterial acid-base status due to changes in ventilation. The invention also relates to a corresponding data processing system, and a corresponding computer program product for execution on a computer.
Patients with acute respiratory illness, often require an arterial blood gas to measure both oxygenation and values of acid-base status of arterial blood, including the pH and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2). Blood samples are usually obtained by puncturing an artery, which is painful, particularly so in contrast to puncture of a vein. A method has therefore been previously developed (1,2 cited below) to calculate arterial values from measurements taken in venous blood. The method uses non-invasive measurements of arterial oxygenation, taken from a pulse oximeter using a finger or ear clip, and then calculates the addition of oxygen required to convert the venous oxygen values to arterial. By then assuming that the CO2 removed so as to convert venous blood gases to arterial, is a fixed ratio of the oxygen added, the method calculates the complete arterial oxygen and acid-base profile. This fixed ratio can be used, as the production of CO2 and consumption of O2 in aerobic metabolism are directly related. This ratio is known as the respiratory quotient (RQ).
The method has been shown to function accurately in patients of a number of studies (3-6). The concerned method for converting venous blood values to arterial blood values is disclosed in the international patent application WO 2004/010861 (to OBI Medical Aps, Denmark). While it is well known that there are artefacts regarding the influence of ventilation on arterial blood, e.g., hyperventilation, hypoventilation, etc., the degree and quantification of these effects is poorly understood. Hence, an improved method to explain how a ventilation change can modify arterial acid-base status would be advantageous.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative to the prior art. In particular, it may be seen as an object of the present invention to provide a method that solves the above mentioned problems of the prior art with identification of the degree to which transient changes in ventilation have modified measurements of the acid-base status of a subject's, or patient's, arterial blood.
Thus, the above-described object and several other objects are intended to be obtained in a first aspect of the invention by providing a computer-implemented method for determining degree to which the arterial blood sample has been modified by the presence of a transient increase, or decrease, in ventilation of a subject, the method comprising
The present invention is particularly—but not exclusively—advantageous, in that measurement and analysis, i.e. comparison, of measured and calculated values of arterial acid-base status can be applied to obtain hitherto unavailable insight about the changes in measurement of arterial acid-base status due to transient modifications in ventilation. Insights that—to the best knowledge of the inventors—was previously not available in this field.
Thus, the method of the invention provides an indication as to the degree of transient ventilation responsible for modification of measurements of arterial acid-base status, which may allow a clinician to take appropriate action, such as deciding to perform a second arterial measurement some time later when the transient change in ventilation has passed, so as to confirm the correct levels of arterial acid-base status.
In the broadest sense, the invention may be advantageously applied to assist in evaluating whether measured arterial values represent the patient's acid-base status in steady state conditions, or whether they have been modified by the effects of transient ventilation. The presence of modifications can be described in two-result fashion, i.e., ‘present’ or ‘not present’, but the invention may of course also output a more nuanced level of this risk, both qualitatively and in a quantified manner. Thus, in a quantitative manner it could be a number, such as a the differences in CO2 or pH levels in the calculated and measured arterial values, or the CO2 necessary to be added or removed so as to convert calculated arterial to measured values. If provided in a qualitative manner it could be e.g., a three-level regime, e.g. ‘present’, ‘to a small extent’ and ‘to a large extent’, a four-level risk regime, and so forth. Thus, in embodiment, the output measure indicative of a degree in which the arterial blood sample has been modified by the presence of a transient in the ventilation may be a quantitative measure, the quantitative measure subsequently being compared with a pre-defined limit for whether a transient in the ventilation has been detected, or not.
The degree to which arterial blood gas has been modified by transient changes in ventilation may be output and indicated to a user, e.g., a clinician, in any kind of suitable graphical user interface (GUI), by sounds/alarms, or other human-machine interfaces, and/or stored for later use, e.g., for analysis and assessment by a clinician.
It may be mentioned that—in the context of the present invention—the said indications are intended for assisting or guiding e.g., the clinician in making decisions of a therapeutic and/or diagnostic character. Thus, the present invention is not designed to make an actual diagnosis, but merely to provide intelligent information, i.e., indications that may assist the clinician in executing the subsequent step and making the intellectual exercise of providing a diagnosis for the patient and evaluation of the quality of the arterial acid-base measurements. The diagnosis may then be followed by an action of therapeutic character, if needed.
In one embodiment, the ventilation disturbance model may further be performing a minimization process of the measure so as find an optimum value of the first measure indicative of a possible transit change in the ventilation of the subject or patient. The skilled person will understand that mathematically the process of finding an optimum value of the measure could be performed by alternative mathematical methods, such as a reformulation to a maximization process, etc. Beneficially, the minimization process of the measure may performed by an iteration process using said measure, especially considering the normally complex mathematical formulas expressing the ventilation disturbance model.
In one embodiment, the iteration of the ventilation disturbance model may be mathematically modifying the total carbon dioxide content so as to approximate the first estimated arterial blood values to the second reference values of arterial blood. In an alternative embodiment, it may be opposite, i.e. the iteration of the ventilation disturbance model may be mathematically modifying the total carbon dioxide content so as to approximate the second reference values of arterial blood to the first estimated arterial blood values. It is contemplated, that if time and/or processing resources allows, it is possible to perform both iterations to perform a consistency or stability check of the iterations.
In another embodiment, two parameters indicative of the difference between pH and PCO2, respectively, derived from said first estimated arterial blood values, and said second reference values of arterial blood, may be used for the minimization process. These two parameters may also be combined into a common error function for the minimization. As it is explained in more details below, this allows for an efficient way of finding the measure indicative of a transient change in ventilation having an influence on the arterial blood values of the subject.
In a second aspect, the invention relates to a data processing system for determining a degree in which the arterial blood sample has been modified by the presence of a transient increase, or decrease, in ventilation, said data processing system comprising:
In a third aspect, the invention relates to a computer program product being adapted to enable a system comprising of at least one computer having means of data storage in connection therewith to control a data processing system according to the second aspect of the invention.
This aspect of the invention is particularly—but not exclusively—advantageous in that the present invention may be accomplished by a computer program product enabling a computer system to carry out the operations of the data processing system of the second aspect of the invention when downloaded or uploaded into the computer system. Such a computer program product may be provided on any kind of computer readable medium, or through a network.
In a fourth aspect, the invention relates to a device for determining a degree in which the arterial blood sample has been modified by the presence of a transient increase, or decrease, in ventilation, said device comprising:
the ventilation disturbance model is arranged to output a measure indicative of a degree to which the arterial blood sample has been modified by the presence of a transient change in the ventilation using said measure.
This aspect of the invention is particularly—but not exclusively—advantageous in that the present invention may be accomplished by a device comprising a computer program product according to the third aspect of the invention, enabling a computer system to carry out the operations of the data processing system of the second aspect of the invention when downloaded or uploaded into the device.
In a fifth aspect, the invention relates to the use of a device for determining a degree in which the arterial blood sample has been modified by the presence of a transient increase, or decrease, in ventilation, according to the fourth aspect of the invention.
This aspect of the invention is advantageous, in that use of the device according to the fourth aspect, may provide, to an operator, an indication as to the degree of transient ventilation responsible for modification of measurements of arterial acid-base status, which may allow a clinician to take appropriate action, such as deciding to perform a second arterial measurement some time later when the transient change in ventilation has passed, so as to confirm the correct levels of arterial acid-base status.
The individual aspects of the present invention may each be combined with any of the other aspects. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the described embodiments.
The invention will now be described in more detail with regard to the accompanying figures. The figures show one way of implementing the present invention and is not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.
This invention is a method and a corresponding computer system for identifying the degree to which transient changes in ventilation have modified measures of arterial acid-base status. An element of this invention is a comparison of calculated and measured values of arterial acid-base status.
Generally, it is known that there are artefacts about arterial blood influence from ventilation etc., though, the degree and quantification is poorly understood.
Particularly, the assumption of a fixed ratio of O2 consumption and CO2 production may be violated in the condition where the patient has a sudden, transient increase or decrease in ventilation, cf.
A similar but opposite effect can occur in for a sudden decrease in ventilation, where the increase in arterial CO2 can generate a PCO2 gradient from blood to tissues and the transport of CO2 from tissues to blood will be reduced in relation to the use of O2 due to aerobic metabolism, and a deficit of CO2 transport will occur as illustrated by CO2 efflux in
For both these cases, increase and decrease in ventilation, the application of the previously published method will not result in the calculated values of PCO2 and pH matching measured values in the arterial blood, due to the excess or deficit of CO2 transport between tissues to blood. This means that a mathematical simulation, adding or removing CO2 from calculated arterial values until measured values are reached, will indicate the degree to which the arterial blood has been modified by transient changes in ventilation.
If the increase or decrease in ventilation persists, then the body will reach a steady state for CO2. As such, the changes in PCO2 gradient between the tissues and blood due to the transient changes in ventilation will disappear. The method described here therefore refers only to transient changes in breathing over a matter of seconds or minutes. These changes can be due to the depth or volume of breathing, or the frequency. They can occur, for example, if a patient increases breathing due to stress or if a patient holds their breath due to, for example, the fear of pain associated with an arterial puncture. The effects of these transient changes are expected to be on CO2 alone, with no changes to the buffering or other characteristics of blood. As a consequence, they can be accounted for by addition or removal of CO2 alone as it will be understood from the teaching and principle of the present invention.
Glossary
1_ABGC First estimated or calculated arterial value
2_ABG Second reference arterial value
BB Buffer Base
BE Base Excess
DPG 2,3-disphosphoglycerate
FCOHb Fraction of Carboxyhaemoglobin
FMetHb Fraction of Methaemoglobin
GUI Graphical User Interface
Hb Haemoglobin
HCO3− Bicarbonate ion
PCO2 Partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood
PO2 Partial pressure of oxygen in the blood
RQ Respiration Quotient
SO2AE Oxygen saturation in estimated arterial blood
SO2AM Oxygen saturation in measured arterial blood
SpO2 Oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry
ΔtCO2,V total carbon dioxide content change due to ventilation
tCO2 Total carbon dioxide content
tO2 Total oxygen content
VBGE Venous blood gas estimated
VBGM Venous blood gas measured
All of the above patent and non-patent literature are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The invention can be implemented by means of hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. The invention or some of the features thereof can also be implemented as software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors i.e. data processing on one or more computers.
The individual elements of an embodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way such as in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of separate functional units. The invention may be implemented in a single unit, or be both physically and functionally distributed between different units and processors.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is to be interpreted in the light of the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms “comprising” or “comprises” do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as “a” or “an” etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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19168643.5 | Apr 2019 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2020/059794 | 4/6/2020 | WO | 00 |