Anesthesia Information Systems: The future of the "Anesthesia Machine"?
Developments in fast, inexpensive, small, powerful computers, wireless technology, and the Internet are revolutionizing anesthesia in many ways including better patient monitoring, easier, more accurate record keeping, and improved patient care through the use of expert systems.
However, anesthesiologists must take a leading role in the development and implementation of new technology. If we allow engineers and business executives to develop the tools we use every day, we may well find that they fail to incorporate the features we need, include undesirable features, and are inconvenient to use. If we allow others to decide what features should be incorporated in new operating room technology, we have only ourselves to blame if we find the end product unsatisfying or difficult to use, that it incorporates features that are useless and fails to provide features that would be of advantage to us.
At present, I am unclear as to how anesthesiologists as a group can develop a vision for the future of technology in anesthesia, or how we can influence or control the means of production. As a way of commencing a dialogue about these issues, I would like to invite you to visit Utopia General Hospital, where I will show you the operating room of 2010.