Rapid and direct measurements of oxygen consumption and CO2 production in patient monitoring.

氧气是生命之气。没有它，我们很快就会死去。正因为如此，像圣约翰这样的团体？救护车教给市民的基本知识是什么？ABC？确保昏迷的病人继续获得足够的氧气？s组织（ABC代表气道、呼吸和循环）。在医院里失去知觉的病人，即使情况稳定，也会受益于一个简单的设备来测量他们的身体使用了多少氧气。这包括因潜在疾病而在重症监护室失去知觉的患者和被麻醉师故意弄得失去知觉的患者。对这些患者进行这样的测量将允许静脉内给予适量的食物，将对心脏和肺部问题发出早期警告，将指导输血需求，并将提供一系列其他益处。其他在医院的病人可能因为身体供氧不足而不稳定--医生经常把这种病人称为休克。这些病人需要以各种方式复苏，没有它，许多人会死亡。然而，与许多其他治疗方法一样，过多的复苏可能是有害的（复苏过少也是如此）。目前，医生以各种方式判断他们的治疗，但不幸的是，他们没有很好的措施，只是多少氧气病人的身体组织正在采取。汉考克和罗宾斯教授提出的装置将能够准确监测所有这些患者的摄氧量。本发明的巧妙之处在于连续监测患者实际呼吸管内的氧气浓度。它通过使用激光器来实现这一点，激光器产生的光具有非常特定的波长，只有氧气才能吸收。由于这种吸收很弱，为了加强这种吸收，汉考克教授和罗宾斯教授使用了两个相互面对的特殊镜子，在测量有多少光被吸收之前，将光多次反射穿过气体。他们已经在大学研究实验室的狭窄范围内使用了这项技术。现在的问题是他们是否能制造出一种能在医院环境中生存下来的设备。如果他们可以，那么这个设备可以通过更好的监测和更好的复苏在医院失去知觉的病人挽救生命，就像圣约翰？救护车通过改善社区内的复苏来拯救生命。

Oxygen is the gas of life. Without it, we die very quickly. Because of this, groups such as the St John?s Ambulance teach members of the public the basic ?ABC? of resuscitation to ensure that unconscious patients continue to get enough oxygen to their body?s tissues (ABC stands for airway, breathing and circulation). Patients unconscious in hospital, even if stable, would benefit from a simple device to measure how much oxygen their body is using. This includes both patients who are unconscious in intensive care units because of their underlying condition and patients who are deliberately made unconscious by anaesthetists. Such measurements in these patients would allow the right amount of food to be given intravenously, would give an early warning of heart and lung problems, would guide blood transfusion needs, and would provide a range of other benefits. Other patients in hospital may not be stable because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to the body - doctors often refer to such patients as being in shock . These patients need resuscitation in various ways, and without it many would die. However, as with so many other treatments, too much resuscitation can be harmful (as can too little resuscitation). At present, doctors judge their treatment in a variety of ways, but unfortunately they have no good measure of just how much oxygen the patient s body tissues are taking up. The device proposed by Profs Hancock and Robbins would enable accurate monitoring of oxygen uptake in all these patients. The clever part of the invention is to monitor the oxygen concentration continuously within the actual breathing tube of the patient. It does this by using a laser which produces light at a very particular wavelength which is only absorbed by oxygen. As this absorption is weak, to strengthen it Profs Hancock and Robbins use two special mirrors facing one another to bounce the light many times through the gas before measuring how much of the light is absorbed. They have already got this technique to work in the rarefied confines of the university research laboratory. The question now is whether they can make a device that will survive the realities of the hospital environment. If they can, then this device could save lives through better monitoring and better resuscitation of unconscious patients in hospital, just as the St John?s Ambulance saves lives by improving resuscitation within the community.