Coloured Petri Nets-based Approach for Modelling Effects of Variation on the Reliability of the Newborn Life Support Procedure

• Ability of Coloured Petri Nets to model variations in a clinical procedure • A novel approach to studying variations in the Newborn Life Support (NLS) procedure • Technical and non-technical aspects modelling of the NLS procedure • Analysis of the reliability and the safety of the NLS procedure under varied conditions About 10% of newborns need a life support procedure following birth. However, this procedure has a considerable error rate of more than 25%, which may compromise its safety and reliability. Continuous studies to improve its performance are carried out, but in-field studies can be expensive and not always feasible. Hence, a modelling approach is proposed. Studies have shown how variations and errors in this procedure are associated with technical and non-technical factors. Thus, the proposed approach includes these aspects by considering different settings of thermal care, the experience of the doctor, types of respiratory devices, and the ability of the clinical staff to cope with stress. The Coloured Petri Nets (CPNs) approach is used to model the characteristics of this Newborn Life Support (NLS) procedure. This technique can facilitate complex system modelling with a compact representation. The dynamic characteristics of the procedure are implemented during a simulation of the CPNs model. These relate to the duration of steps, the baby's physical response, and variations or errors from the required protocol. This paper demonstrates how risks in the protocol relating to the baby's final condition and clinical decision inaccuracies can be quantified by the approach.