KK Women's and Children's Hospital have designed an automated blood pressure management system to enhance patient safety during Cesarean procedures. It is called the Double Intravenous Vasopressor Automated System and is touted to be the world's first.

Up to 60 per cent of expectant mothers experience low blood pressure when they undergo spinal anaesthesia. This could cause pre-delivery nausea and in more severe cases affect the newborn.

The system works by gathering blood pressure and heart rate data from two finger cuffs. The data is then exported to a laptop where a computer program determines what dosage of medication the mother requires. The patient is given Phenylephrine to increase her blood pressure and ephedrine to improve her heart rate. An alarm sounds when the drugs have been administered.

This hands-off process for drug administration optimises drug delivery response time and also allows the anaesthetist to be more efficient, said Professor Alex Sia, director at KK Research Centre.