2005 Finalist

Nicutools: Online calculators for neonatal intensive care

A range of calculators available on the internet are helping doctors treating sick newborn babies.

Nicutools http://nicutools.orcon.net.nz provide web-based calculators that translate often complex mathematical algorithms into user friendly yet robust tools, bringing the benefits of research directly to the clinical staff caring for babies in intensive care.

One of the calculators, BabyCheck, provides parents and health professionals with a 19-step checklist to assess the severity of acute illness in babies in the first six months of life.

Nicutools calculators have been devised for eight different clinical problems, and are predominately targeted at neonatal intensive care cases.

Medical staff at Wellington Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit have used the Nicutools glucose delivery calculator to improve the investigation and management of infants with hypoglycaemia. The tool gives clinical staff a better understanding of the possible cause of an infant's blood sugar problems.

Another tool - the Low-Flow oxygen Fi02 calculator has given clinicians insight into the oxygen management of infants with chronic lung disease.

The developers of Nicutools are receiving reports from nursing and medical colleagues from Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, who are all using the Nicutools calculators.

There is also a request for the Nicutools to be developed in a more mobile format such as a Personal Digital Assistant currently used by many physicians.

Nicutools
Dr Michael Hewson 04 385 5999
Email: michael.hewson@ccdhb.org.nz