Advanced brain wave monitors ensure optimal dose of anaesthetic before surgery
Advanced brain wave monitors at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust are helping to ensure the optimal dose of anaesthetic is used to make it safer for babies and the elderly when they need an operation.
Funded by Nottingham Hospitals Charity, the six monitors can also help these patients to wake up quicker after a procedure, reducing the risks of confusion or delirium when recovering from the anaesthetic.
The brain wave monitors use an algorithm designed to interpret brain activity and they provide real-time information of a patient’s brainwaves - indicating when the patient has the ideal brain wave pattern for surgery. This enables medical staff to see precisely how much anaesthetic an individual patient needs.
The monitors also enable an anaesthetist to see the effects of different anaesthetic drugs on the patient’s brain waves and give an indication of a patient’s brain age.
The characteristics of our brain waves change as our brain begin to develop and age. This alters how we respond to anaesthetic.
Underlying health conditions can also speed up the ageing of our brains and this requires precision-dosing of these important drugs.
Dr Mark Barley, Consultant Anaesthetist at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, said: “Nottingham University Hospitals are national leaders in the clinical use of this technology, known as ‘Depth of Anaesthesia monitoring.’
“A survey demonstrated that such technology is used in around 2.8% of general anaesthetic cases across the UK – at NUH 12,500 patients benefit from this monitoring (around 40% of our general anaesthetic cases); typically those performed with the most modern anaesthetic techniques.
“We anticipate the monitors - which are called Narcotrend monitors - will be used during more than 2,000 operations a year- allowing brain monitoring during major surgical cases at the extremes of age keeping our hospitals at the forefront of brain monitoring during general anaesthesia.”
Barbara Cathcart, Chief Executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “We are so pleased to be funding this state-of-the-art monitoring equipment for Nottingham’s hospitals. Our colleagues at the Trust are leaders in this field, so it is appropriate that they have the best available equipment to meet their skills and level of expertise.
“This will make such a difference to patient experience during what can be quite a stressful and worrying time. As the lead charity for NUH Trust – enhancing patient care is at the core of what we do.”