Glucose Monitoring for the Critically Ill

A new software system is designed to monitor the levels of glucose in the blood of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Called GRIP, the software saves time and effort for nurses and is more efficient than the paper-based method currently used in many ICU units. GRIP also recommends the appropriate insulin pump rate, the time at which the next blood sample should be taken, and indicates situations in which a doctor should be notified. Monitoring of blood glucose levels is necessary to avoid stress hyperglycemia, an insulin resistance condition that causes glucose levels to rise and has been shown to decrease patient survival.

The software was designed and implemented at the University Medical Center in Groningen (The Netherlands). The results were published in the December 2005 issue of Medical Informatics and Decision Making, a journal of BioMed Central, an online publisher of biomedical research.




Related Links:
University Medical Center Groningen