| Abstract | Automating the control of therapy administered to a patient requires systems which integrate the
knowledge of experienced physicians. This paper describes NeoGanesh, a knowledge-based system
which controls, in closed-loop, the mechanical assistance provided to patients hospitalized in intensive care
units. We report on how new advances in knowledge representation techniques have been used to model
medical expertise. The clinical evaluation shows that such a system relieves the medical staff of routine
tasks, improves patient care, and efficiently supports medical decisions regarding weaning. To be able to
work in closed-loop and to be tested in real medical situations, NeoGanesh deals with a voluntarily limited
problem. However, embedded in a powerful distributed environment, it is intended to support future
extensions and refinements and to support reuse of knowledge bases. |