Sleeping stage based systems (Narcotrend)

The EEC monitor Narcotrend performs an automatic classification of the EEC in the states of anaesthesia and sedation, using a scale from A (awake) to F (very deep sleep) with 14 substages based on proposals for the visual EEG classification made by Kugler (1981). Visually classified EEG epochs constitute a firm and unequivocal basis for the development of classification algorithms allowing easy validation and providing methodological transparency for the user. A high correlation between the automatic classification of the Narcotrend and assessments made by EEG experts has been proved. The Narcotrend has been tested in many different clinical settings. Use of the Narcotrend in EEC monitoring has been proved to meet the demands of daily, routine clinical practice in terms of practicability, reliability, cost-effectiveness and clinical usefulness.