This application has been developed to
● make it easy to calculate the initial dose of heparin to reach a desired ACT.
● enable calculation of additional doses of heparin and/or alterations in infusion rate to maintain a steady state ACT
● easily calculate the required protamine dose for reversal of heparin, based on the pre-protamine ACT
Computer applications
A number of attempts have been made to develop computer assisted methods for heparin administration and reversal. One such application has been written as a cross platform application.
The application "Heparin Heuristics" or "HH" has been written to run under the Windows, OSX (MacIntosh), iOS (iPhone and iPad) operating systems, and can easily be ported to Linux.
How successful is the software in achieving these goals?
For CA-AF, an ACT of between 300 and 400 seconds is recommended. The software achieves this range 92% of the time, as measured by the i_Stat device when the patient has not been taking one of the newer oral anticoagulants.
The software suggests an infusion rate based on a likely rate of elimination for heparin in high dose, and adjustments are made depending on the result of subsequent ACT values. When bolus doses of heparin only are used, suggestions are made based on the estimated heparin concentration for that patient at the measured ACT.
The application also suggests an appropriate protamine dose to reverse the heparin, given the current ACT.
The 'Lite' version is available for purchase on the Apple app store and the desktop version can be found at https://JHLConsultants.com
A beta test of the Android version can be found here.
A video of the 'Lite' version can be seen here.