Linear MPC for anesthesia process with external predictor

In this paper we present a new model predictive control system for the depth of hypnosis in general anesthesia. The depth of hypnosis is measured by the Bispectral Index Scale signal and controlled through propofol administration. The proposed control scheme is based on an external predictor that, by exploiting the Wiener structure of the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model of propofol, compensates for the process nonlinearity and increases the system robustness by means of an additional filter. The performance of the developed control scheme is evaluated through an extensive simulation study, which considers inter-patient and intra-patient variability by applying a Monte Carlo technique. The obtained results show that the proposed methodology is effective in both the induction and maintenance phases.