The evaluation of an expert system for the analysis of umbilical cord blood

An assessment of neonatal outcome may be obtained from analysis of blood in the umbilical cord of an infant immediately after delivery. This can provide information on the health of the new-born infant, guide requirements for neonatal care, but there are problems with the technique. Samples frequently contain errors in one or more of the important parameters, preventing accurate interpretation and many clinical staff lack the expert knowledge required to interpret error-free results. The development and implementation of an expert system to overcome these difficulties has previously been described. This expert system validates the raw data, provides an interpretation of the results for clinicians and archives all the results, including the quality control and calibration data, for permanent storage. Issues regarding the clinical evaluation of this system are now detailed further, along with some clinical results illustrating the potential of such a system.