Robust predictive control of drug dosing during anesthesia

This contribution presents the application of model based predictive control (MPC) to drug dosing during anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery. Although the EPSAC-MPC algorithm is not new, the application and results in anesthesia control problem are relevant. A single-input (Propofol) single-output (Bispectral index) model of the patient has been assumed for prediction, as well as for simulation. A set of 12 patient models were studied and inter-patient variability and disturbances are used to assess robustness of the controller. Furthermore, the controller guarantees the stability in a desired range. Simulation results of the predictive controller are shown to confirm the properties of this strategy. Although the problems introduced by delay are not discussed in this paper, a good start-off for a predictive controller applied to anesthesia is achieved.