This study is designed to investigate whether the use of a combination of dexmedetomidine and remifentanil is clinically useful to provide anesthesia during surgical and diagnostic procedures and whether it could be used for anesthetic induction. Furthermore the aim is to gain better insights in the required dosing regimens, the inter-individual variability in response towards the combination and the associated side effects. Better characterization of this drug-drug interaction will presumably lead to more precise dosing regimens, which in turn, will lead to a reduction in the occurrence of oversedation, side effects and recovery times.~The objective is to map the pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic interaction between dexmedetomidine and remifentanil by observing changes in anesthetic depth, measured by hypnotic and analgesic endpoints such as modified observer's assessment of alertness and sedation scale (MOAA/S), response to electrical stimuli, response to laryngoscopy and electroencephalogram (EEG) derived indices. These effects will be related to drug concentrations using pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modeling.
The objective is to map the pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic interaction between dexmedetomidine and remifentanil by observing changes in anesthetic depth. These changes will be related to drug concentrations using pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modeling.