great cost with the use of commercially available anesthesia systems. A new anesthetic-
conserving device (AnaConDa™) now facilitates, from a technical viewpoint, the routine use
of volatile anesthetics in intensive care patients as part of prolonged sedation, using ICU
ventilators. The volatile anesthetic is hereby applied continually via a syringe pump into a
miniature vaporizer, which is integrated into the ventilator circuit in place of the usual …