This project was previously reported under Expert Systems in Medicine. The objective of this project is to develop, in collaboration with the Critical Care Medicine Department of the Clinical Center, an Expert Advisor for Shock Treatment (EAST) for use in an Intensive Care Unit. The drug administration protocol includes the capability for long-term dose maintenance and eventual dose tapering. Using personal computer-based technology (IBM PC-XT or PC-AT) in conjunction with an original generated BASIC forward chained inference mechanism, a knowledge base of approximately 1400 intervention-specific rules has been developed. These original rules have been supplanted by a revised set that does not explicitly reference interventions (drugs and devices) and is therefore much more adaptable to general treatment concepts. By implementing a table driven mechanism, and prominantly featuring rule iteration, the overall size of the knowledge base has been reduced to 450 rules despite expanded coverage of diagnosis-specific treatment protocols. In addition to range and consistency rule sets, linkage to the IBM Personal Editor and numerous other user oriented features, an acid-base diagnosis system has been produced.
