Ultrasonic cleaning baths are routinely used for cleaning dental and surgical instruments. The importance of efficient cleaning prior to sterilisation is great. Micro-organisms can survive the sterilisation process as debris can act as an insulator. The information available on ultrasonic field distributions in cleaning baths is limited. A thermal technique, employing a thermistor probe coated with an absorbing material measures the temperature rise when the field is switched on compared to no sound temperature. Contour plots of the field of the cleaning bath resulted from point-to-temperature. Contour plots of the field of the cleaning bath resulted from point-to-point measurements. Optical methods were also employed for qualitative measurements of the field. The main optical method used in this study is the Sarvazyan, dye/paper method where dye patterns represent the distribution of the field's cavitation activity at that area. Titanium coated mica was also used for seeding the bath. When the field was switched on, these particles migrated towards the antinodes, the distribution of particles in the field gives qualitative measure for the field. Aluminium surfaces were sonicated and erosion with pitting was evident after 30-60 minutes sonication time. Some plates were examined under an SEM. Cleaning efficiency was directly examined by coating perspex and stainless steel plates with blood. The plates were left to dry for 24 hours then sonicated. Water and Decon-90® detergent gave very similar removal times, with the detergent to achieve cleaning marginally faster compared to water. A disinfectant-detergent was also used, Virkon®. The results with Virkon were disappointing, red cells were caused to lyse up by Virkon and as a result a colloidal mixture was formed. This mixture was not able to be removed ultrasonically, even after an hour or more sonication time. Manual brushing was required in that case. In general all baths tested showed a non-uniform field pattern that can result in insufficient cleaning.

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Anaesthesia is important for both surgery and intensive care and intravenous anaesthetics are widely used to provide rapid onset, stable maintenance, and rapid recovery compared with inhaled anaesthetics. The aim of the project on which this thesis is based was to investigate a reliable and safe methodology for delivering total intravenous anaesthesia using closed-loop control technology and bispectral analysis of human electroencephalogram (EEG) waveform. In comparison with Target Controlled Infusion (TCI), drug effect is measured during drug infusion in closed loop anaesthesia (CLAN). This may provide superior safety, better patient care, and better quality of anaesthesia whilst relieving the clinician of the need to make recurrent and minor alterations to drug administration. However, the development of a CLAN system has been hindered by the Jack of a 'gold standard' for anaesthetic states and difficulties with patient variability in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling, and a new and generic mathematical model of a closed-loop anaesthesia system was developed for this investigation. By using this CLAN model, investigations on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability existing in patients were carried out. A new control strategy that combines a Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) controller, bispectral analysis of EEG waveform and pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic models was investigated. Based on the mathematical model, a prototype CLAN system, the first CLAN system capable of delivering both hypnotics and analgesics simultaneously for total intravenous anaesthesia, was developed. A Bispectral Index (BIS), derived from power spectral and bispectral analysis on EEG waveform, is used to measure depth of anaesthesia. A supervision system with built-in digital signal processing techniques was developed to compensate the non-linear characteristics inherent in the system while providing a comprehensive protection mechanism for patient safety. The CLAN system was tested in 78125 virtual patients modelled using published data. Investigations on intravenous anaesthesia induction and maintenance with the CLAN system were carried out in various clinical settings on 21 healthy volunteers and 15 patients undergoing surgery. Anaesthesia targets were achieved quickly and well maintained in all volunteers/patients except for 2 patients with clinically satisfactory anaesthesia quality.

Relevant literature has been reviewed regarding the performance, implementation and evaluation of computer based medical decision support systems. The diagnostic performance of five simple case driven acute chest pain advice systems, have been compared using a standardized set of clinical records. A Bayesian inference model demonstrated superiority over two derived by logistic regression. Small data set flow charts performed well but both relied upon the use of expert opinion. A Bayesian acute abdominal pain diagnostic advice system has been evaluated in a clinical trial. Standardized data collection improved the diagnostic performance of doctors. In practice, the computer system offered little additional user benefit. From further tests in primary care, it was concluded that, whereas general practitioners might enhance their performance by using data collection sheets, paramedics might benefit through direct use of the computer. DERMIS is a new dermatology primary care diagnostic advice system. Components include a database derived from 5203 prospectively collected clinical records, a user interface, and an enhanced Bayesian inference model incorporating combined frequency estimates, expert beliefs and rationalized end-point groups. On laboratory testing, the diagnostic accuracy of DERMIS was 83%. The correct diagnosis appeared in the top three, of a possible 42 disease list on 97% of occasions. In a semi-field trial of DERMIS involving 49 general practitioners, doctors did not always collect the same information as a dermatologist but were able to significantly increase their chance of making a correct diagnosis through use of the computer system. It has been concluded that although implementation of DERMIS might well increase general practitioner diagnostic accuracy and lead to improvements in the management of skin disease in primary care, rates of referral for specialist opinion might not be affected unless standard management plans are adopted.

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