A pocket calculator program for non-invasive bedside assessment of cardiorespiratory function

A pocket calculator program has been written for the rapid bedside evaluation of cardiorespiratory function. The unique features of this program are that it makes use of recently available non-invasive techniques for measurement of arterial oxygen saturation and mixed venous PCO2. This enables calculation of pulmonary venous admixture and mixed venous oxygen saturation without the need for central venous or pulmonary artery catheterization. If the ventilation and respired gas concentrations are also measured, cardiac output and alveolar ventilation can be expressed in litres per minute, and the dead space: tidal volume ratio calculated.