A monitoring and trending system and intracranial pressure.

A prototype of a portable microprocessor-based system for monitoring and displaying intracranial pressure, systemic arterial pressure, and cerebral perfusion pressure data has been developed. This system reduces the data for long-term logging and subsequent display as a trend plot and an array of computed histograms. Included in the system is the capability of presetting alarms to identify and alert clinical staff to potentially hazardous conditions. An initial technical and clinical evaluation indicates that the objective of improving patient care while controlling capital and operating costs has been met. The alarm system and the trended data display can be used to routinely detect conditions that previously were not immediately identified because of inherent limitations in currently available equipment. The precise minute-to-minute and retrospective evaluation of clinical events is now facilitated by a consistent, concise record and analysis of ICP and related data.