Implementing an automated ventilation guideline using the semantic wiki KnowWE

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the experiences made during the implementation of a therapeutic process, i.e. a guideline, for automated mechanical ventilation of patients in intensive care units. The semantic wiki KnowWE was used as a collaborative development platform for domain specialists, knowledge and software engineers, and reviewers. We applied the graphical guideline language DiaFlux to represent medical expertise about mechanical ventilation in a flowchart-oriented manner. Finally, the computerized guideline was embedded seamlessly into a mechanical ventilator for autonomous execution. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.