During surgery, the anesthesiologist is the guardian of patient safety and protects physiological homeostasis. Currently, this is done via various invasive and non-invasive devices that monitor physiological biosignals. Unfortunately, millions of patients undergoing mid- to high-risk surgery experience perioperative complications, which only emerge once the anesthesia wears off. These perioperative complications can have severe consequences on the brain (postoperative delirium, postoperative cognitive dysfunction, intraoperative stroke), on the spinal cord (perioperative nerve damage), on the heart (perioperative cardiac ischemia), on the kidneys (perioperative acute renal failure), and on the intestines (perioperative intestinal ischemia). These complications dramatically increase the risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality and related health care costs. There is one common cause: episodic critical disruptions in brain perfusion during anesthesia, which lead to neural network damage and affect the brain and multiple other organ systems.

Although the anesthesiologist is equipped with multiple monitors, no system currently exists to track global brain perfusion non-invasively and effectively. Charité Anesthesiology and their technology partner SectorCon have developed Aurelia, a prototype sensor-based system that non-invasively tracks brain perfusion. This system can provide vital information and be a powerful asset for the everyday anesthesiologist, enabling them to implement personalized hemodynamic strategies, maintain adequate brain perfusion, and ensure optimal physiological homeostasis. The elusive biosignal of brain perfusion would finally be unlocked, which could improve perioperative outcomes for all patients undergoing anesthesia.

Project Aurelia is powered by an interdisciplinary team of anaesthesiologists (Prof. Sascha Trekatsch, Dr. Michael Nordine) and technical experts (SectorCon’s Roland Kopetsch, Philipp Käferstein) that are pioneering the development of non-invasive anesthesia monitoring for the digital age. Aurelia aims to be the go-to solution in every operating room to reduce perioperative complications.