Hemodynamic management of congestive heart failure by means of a multiple mode rule-based control system using fuzzy logic

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering 2000-01, Vol.47 (1), p.115-123
• Main Authors: Held, C.M., Roy, R.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active control; Algorithms; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Boundaries; Carbon monoxide; Cardiology; Cardiology. Vascular system; Control system synthesis; Control systems; Dogs; Dopamine - administration & dosage; Drug delivery; Drug infusion; Drug Therapy, Combination; Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted; Failure; Fuzzy control; Fuzzy Logic; Fuzzy sets; Heart; Heart Failure - drug therapy; Heart failure, cardiogenic pulmonary edema, cardiac enlargement; Hemodynamics; Hemodynamics - drug effects; Infusions, Intravenous; Knowledge based systems; Mathematical models; Medical sciences; Nitroprusside - administration & dosage; Nonlinear control systems; Pressure control; Studies; System testing
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/10.817626

A rule-based system was designed to control the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the cardiac output (GO) of a patient with congestive heart failure (CHF), using two vasoactive drugs; sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and dopamine (DPM). The controller has three different modes, that engage according to the hemodynamic state. The critical conditions control mode (CCC) determines the initial infusion rates, and continues active if the MAP or the CO fall outside of the defined critically thresholds: an upper and a lower boundary for the MAP and a lower boundary for the CO. Inside the boundaries the control is performed by noncritical conditions control modes (NCC's), which are fuzzy logic controllers. If the CO is within normal range and the MAP is close to the goal range, then the MAP is driven using only SNP, in a single-input-single-output mode (NCC-SISO). Otherwise the NCC multiple input-multiple-output is active (NCC-MIMO). The goal values for the controlled variables are defined as a band of 5 mmHg for the MAP and 5 mL/kg/min for the CO, but there is little concern for this application if the CO is too high (i.e., in practical terms the CO only needs to achieve a necessary minimum rate). The NCC-MIMO includes a gain adaptation algorithm to cope with the wide variety in sensitivities to SNP. Supervisory capabilities to ensure adequate drug delivery complete the controller scheme. After extensive testing and tuning on a CHF-hemodynamics nonlinear model, the control system was applied in dog experiments, which led to further enhancements. The results show an adequate control, presenting a fast response to setpoint changes with an acceptable overshoot.