Techniques for the characterization of sedation due to opiate administration

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is identifying human physiologic markers during opiate sedation for applications in general anesthesia and drug overdose. Under this central topic, three themes are developed: characterizing the neural signature associated with altered consciousness due to opiate administration, characterizing the diminished respiration and behavioral effects of sedation due to opiate administration, and correlating these features. This work led to the development of signal processing techniques using state-space autoregressive equations to model respiratory data. Additionally, this project required designing and conducting a clinical experiment at the Massachusetts General Hospital with the permission of the Partners Institutional Review Board and the guidance of the Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Management department at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The data used in this investigation were collected in the operating rooms at the Massachusetts General Hospital with the help of anesthesiologists, surgeons, nursing staff, and clinical research coordinators.