Bringing innovation to anaesthesia

Somnus Scientific, which recently won the Outstanding Achievement award at the Medilink South West Healthcare Innovation Awards, is using innovative technology to change the way anaesthesia is administered.

By allowing anaesthetists to measure venous blood propofol concentrations, the use of TIVA (Total Intravenous Anaesthesia) can be made even safer and more reliable.

Triple Aim The use of Somnus Scientific’s realtime blood propofol monitor during general anaesthesia or sedation satisfies the essential tests of the Triple Aim in Healthcare.

Improving the health of patients having

surgery. TIVA, supported by real-time blood propofol monitoring, improves the health of surgical patients by reducing the untoward effects of inhalational anaesthesia, such as impaired cognitive function, nausea and vomiting. There is also evidence that using TIVA can provide better long-term survival for patients who have cancer.

Improving the whole experience of

healthcare. The patient’s experience is improved by a reduction in side effects and a smoother post-operative recovery period. Real-time blood propofol monitoring enables this as it facilitates the use of TIVA over gaseous anaesthesia. It can also be used to reduce the total dose of drug given, thus minimising the unwanted effects of excessive dosing.

Reducing the per capita cost.

Administering TIVA with an autonomous feedback loop has been shown to reduce the total quantity of drug used, and so reduces the cost of general anaesthesia. TIVA also reduces the length of stay in the recovery room and overall length of stay in hospital, which are two drivers of anaesthesia related cost.

Environmental Benefit Traditional anaesthetic uses greenhouse gases which damage the environment. A recent scientific paper showed that an anaesthetist using low flow gaseous anaesthesia and undertaking three operating lists a week, over a 40-year career, will dump to the atmosphere the equivalent CO2 of 880 return flights from Heathrow to JFK – one flight each working week.

TIVA is clean and environmentally safer than gaseous anaesthesia. Compared across the whole life cycle of each drug, the greenhouse gas impact of propofol is 10,000 times smaller than that of anaesthetic gases. Somnus’s realtime blood propofol monitor makes switching to TIVA safer and more effective. Facilitating the use of the only alternative anaesthetic technique (TIVA) can therefore also improve the health of the population of our planet.

Innovation

Propofol is a phenol that is relatively insoluble in water and thus carried in lipid. Somnus has overcome the practical difficulties of measuring propofol in a real-time system that does not require blood withdrawal from the patient. The company’s newly invented biosensor utilises an enzyme on an electrode and the principles of voltammetry to consistently and reproducibly measure propofol down to remarkably low concentrations.

In the months ahead, Somnus will continue to refine the function of the sensor, whilst at the same time considering partners for commercial development of products aimed at segments of its target market.