An agent based architecture for high-risk neonate management at neonatal intensive care unit
Journal Title: Electronic Physician - Year 2018, Vol 10, Issue 1
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In recent years, the use of new tools and technologies has decreased the neonatal mortality rate. Despite the positive effect of using these technologies, the decisions are complex and uncertain in critical conditions when the neonate is preterm or has a low birth weight or malformations. There is a need to automate the high-risk neonate management process by creating real-time and more precise decision support tools. OBJECTIVE: To create a collaborative and real-time environment to manage neonates with critical conditions at the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and to overcome high-risk neonate management weaknesses by applying a multi agent based analysis and design methodology as a new solution for NICU management. METHODS: This study was a basic research for medical informatics method development that was carried out in 2017. The requirement analysis was done by reviewing articles on NICU Decision Support Systems. PubMed, Science Direct, and IEEE databases were searched. Only English articles published after 1990 were included; also, a needs assessment was done by reviewing the extracted features and current processes at the NICU environment where the research was conducted. We analyzed the requirements and identified the main system roles (agents) and interactions by a comparative study of existing NICU decision support systems. The Universal Multi Agent Platform (UMAP) was applied to implement a prototype of our multi agent based high-risk neonate management architecture. RESULTS: Local environment agents interacted inside a container and each container interacted with external resources, including other NICU systems and consultation centers. In the NICU container, the main identified agents were reception, monitoring, NICU registry, and outcome prediction, which interacted with human agents including nurses and physicians. CONCLUSION: Managing patients at the NICU units requires online data collection, real-time collaboration, and management of many components. Multi agent systems are applied as a well-known solution for management, coordination, modeling, and control of NICU processes. We are currently working on an outcome prediction module using artificial intelligence techniques for neonatal mortality risk prediction. The full implementation of the proposed architecture and evaluation is considered the future work
Authors and Affiliations
Jaleh Shoshtarian Malak, Reza Safdari, Hojjat Zeraati, Fatemeh Sadat Nayeri, Niloofar Mohammadzadeh, Seide Sedighe Seied Farajollah
The examination of quality of pregnancy care based on the World Health Organization’s “Responsiveness” model of selected pregnant women in Tehran
INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) Responsiveness model showing the ability of health systems in fulfilling people's expectations in connection with nonclinical aspects is an appropriate pattern to assess...
Childhood Cardiomyopathies: A Study in Tertiary Care Hospital in Upper Egypt
INTRODUCTION: Cardiomyopathy (CMP) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a disease of the myocardium associated with cardiac dysfunction. An understanding of CMP is very important, as it is a common cause...
Association between serum visfatin and carotid atherosclerosis in diabetic and non-diabetic patients on maintenance hemodialysis.
Adipose tissue releases bioactive factors termed adipokines. Visfatin is an adipokine that plays an active role promoting vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the associat...
Knowledge of healthy lifestyle in Iran: a systematic review.
Lifestyle is a set of goals, plans, values, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs manifested in the personal and family life of the individual and in her or his social interactions. It is an interdisciplinary concept that in...
Depression, anxiety and quality of life in stroke survivors and their family caregivers: A pilot study using an actor/partner interdependence model
BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are common in stroke survivors as well as their family caregivers. However, it is not known whether each person's emotional distress contributes to their partner's quality of life (QOL)...