Overview
The Department has two major research themes, each with its own faculty principal investigator. Dr. Michael Alkire is examining brain structure and function in relation to anesthesia using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), anesthesia depth monitors, and animal models. His current work is delving into the mechanisms of anesthesia and proposes a novel "thalamic consciousness switch" hypothesis. Dr. Peter Breen is investigating gas exchange and metabolism during non-steady-state conditions in anesthesia and critical care medicine utilizing patient studies, computer simulations, bench preparations, and occasional animal models. The development and patenting of the fast-response humidity sensor is facilitating a novel measurement of oxygen uptake per breath and first metabolic clinical studies conducted in patients in the operating rooms under anesthesia.Other clinical faculty members conduct research investigations. Dr. David Wong is examining how an intensive care unit information system can allow nurses to spend less time with documentation and more time with direct patient care. Dr. Nitin Shah is examining the performance of pulse oximeters in the presence of low perfusion and motion artifact, the impact of different anesthesia agents on length of stay in the post anesthesia care unit (recovery room), and the effect of implementation of the American Society of Anesthesiologists' pain management guidelines for surgical patients. Dr. Maria Shier is investigating the efficacy of a new nasopharyngeal airway, the Connell Airway, which can provide airway patency, along with conduits for oxygen supplementation and expired carbon dioxide monitoring.