Novel wearable and contactless monitoring devices to identify deteriorating patients in the clinical setting: a systematic review protocol

Clinical Evaluation of a Wireless Device for Monitoring Vitals in Newborn Babies

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the ability of the Nemocare Raksha (NR), an internet of things (IoT)-enabled device, to continuously monitor vitals for 6 h and its safety in newborns. The accuracy of the device was also compared with the readings from the standard device used in the pediatric ward.

METHOD

Forty neonates (either gender) weighing ≥ 1.5 kg were included in the study. Heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and oxygen saturation was measured using the NR and compared with standard care devices. Safety was assessed by monitoring for skin changes and local rise in temperature. The neonatal infant pain scale (NIPS) was used to assess pain and discomfort.

RESULT

A total of 227 h of observations (5.67 h per baby) were obtained. No discomfort or device-related adverse events were noted during the study period. The mean difference between the NR and the standard monitoring was 0.66 (0.42 to 0.90) for temperature (°C); -6.57 (-8.66 to -4.47) for heart rate (bpm); 7.60 (6.52 to 8.68) for respiratory rate (breaths per minute); -0.79 (-1.10 to -0.48) for oxygen saturation (%). The level of agreement analyzed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was good for heart rate [ICC 0.77 (0.72 to 0.82); p value < 0.001] and oxygen saturation [ICC 0.80 (0.75 to 0.84); p value < 0.001]; moderate for body temperature [ICC 0.54 (0.36 to 0.60); p value < 0.001] and poor for respiratory rate [ICC 0.30 (0.10 to 0.44); p value 0.002].

CONCLUSION

The NR was able to seamlessly monitor vital parameters in neonates without any safety concern. The device showed a good level of agreement for heart rate and oxygen saturation among the four parameters measured.

Novel wearable and contactless heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation monitoring devices: a systematic review and meta-analysis

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify, classify and evaluate the body of evidence on novel wearable and contactless devices that measure heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturations in the clinical setting. We included any studies of hospital inpatients, including sleep study clinics. Eighty-four studies were included in the final review. There were 56 studies of wearable devices and 29 of contactless devices. One study assessed both types of device. A high risk of patient selection and rater bias was present in proportionally more studies assessing contactless devices compared with studies assessing wearable devices (p = 0.023 and p < 0.0001, respectively). There was high but equivalent likelihood of blinding bias between the two types of studies (p = 0.076). Wearable device studies were commercially available devices validated in acute clinical settings by clinical staff and had more real-time data analysis (p = 0.04). Contactless devices were more experimental, and data were analysed post-hoc. Pooled estimates of mean (95%CI) heart rate and respiratory rate bias in wearable devices were 1.25 (-0.31-2.82) beats.min^-1 (pooled 95% limits of agreement -9.36-10.08) and 0.68 (0.05-1.32) breaths.min^-1 (pooled 95% limits of agreement -5.65-6.85). The pooled estimate for mean (95%CI) heart rate and respiratory rate bias in contactless devices was 2.18 (3.31-7.66) beats.min^-1 (pooled limits of agreement -6.71-10.88) and 0.30 (-0.26-0.87) breaths.min^-1 (pooled 95% limits of agreement -3.94-4.29). Only two studies of wearable devices measured S_p O₂ ; these reported mean measurement biases of 3.54% (limits of agreement -5.65-11.45%) and 2.9% (-7.4-1.7%). Heterogeneity was observed across studies, but absent when devices were grouped by measurement modality and reference standard. We conclude that, while studies of wearable devices were of slightly better quality than contactless devices, in general all studies of novel devices were of low quality, with small (< 100) patient datasets, typically not blinded and often using inappropriate statistical techniques. Both types of devices were statistically equivalent in accuracy and precision, but wearable devices demonstrated less measurement bias and more precision at extreme vital signs. The statistical variability in precision and accuracy between studies is partially explained by differences in reference standards.

The Role of Unobtrusive Home-Based Continuous Sensing in the Management of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS CoV-2

UNSTRUCTURED

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been reported that greater than 35% of patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 develop post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 (PASC). PASC is still a disease for which preliminary medical data is being collected-mostly measurements collected during hospital or clinical visits-and pathophysiological understanding is yet in its infancy. The disease is notable for its prevalence and its variable symptom presentation and as such, management plans could be more holistically made if health care providers had access to unobtrusive home-based wearable and contactless continuous physiologic and physical sensor data. Such between-hospital or between-clinic data can quantitatively elucidate a majority of the temporal evolution of PASC symptoms. While not universally of comparable accuracy to gold-standard medical devices, home-deployed sensors offer great insights into the development and progression of PASC. Suitable sensors include those providing vital signs and activity measurements that correlate directly or by proxy to documented PASC symptoms. Such continuous, home-based data can give care providers contextualized information from which symptom exacerbation or relieving factors may be classified. Such data can also improve the collective academic understanding of PASC by providing temporally and activity-associated symptom cataloging. In this viewpoint, we make a case for the utilization of home-based continuous sensing that can serve as a foundation from which medical professionals and engineers may develop and pursue long-term mitigation strategies for PASC.

Hypertension telemonitoring and home-based physical training programs

PURPOSE

Hypertensive patients with access to telemedicine can receive telemonitoring of blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, diet, and remote supervision of treatment compliance. Faced with this challenge, electronic devices for telemonitoring of BP have gained space. They have shown to be effective in the follow-up of hypertensive patients and assist in the adherence and control of associated risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Narrative Review.

RESULTS

The use of advanced smartwatches, smartphone apps, and online software for monitoring physical activity is increasingly common. Electronic equipment is briefly presented here as a support for better addressing some cardiovascular variables. Using various automated feedback services with a follow-up multidisciplinary clinical team is the ideal strategy.

CONCLUSION

Mobile health can improve risk factors and health status, particularly for hypertensive patients, improving access to cardiac rehabilitation and reducing the cost.

Exploring the perspectives of outpatient rehabilitation clinicians on the challenges with monitoring patient health, function and activity in the community

PURPOSE

Rehabilitation clinicians need information about patient activities in the home/community to inform care. Despite active efforts to develop technologies that can meet this need, clinicians' perspectives regarding how information is collected and used in outpatient rehabilitation have not been comprehensively described. Therefore, we aimed to describe: (1) what data pertaining to a patient's health, function and activity in their home/community are currently collected in outpatient rehabilitation, (2) how these data can impact clinical decisions, and (3) what challenges clinicians encounter when they manage the care of outpatients based on this information.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eight clinicians working in outpatient rehabilitation programs completed qualitative interviews that were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified: "Nature of data about a patient's health, function and activity in the home/community and how it is collected by clinicians," "Value of data from the home/community," "Perceived drawbacks of current data collection methods," and "Improving data collection to understand patient trajectory."

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians described the importance of understanding patient activities in the home/community, but perspectives varied regarding the suitability of current methods. These perceptions may inform the design of solutions to bridge the gap between the clinic and the community in outpatient rehabilitation.Implications for rehabilitationClinical decision-making in outpatient rehabilitation is guided by verbal and written reports about a patient's health and function in the community and adherence to treatment plans.Differing perceptions on the suitability of current data collection methods indicate that the development of new solutions, such as rehabilitation technologies, needs to carefully consider clinician workflows and what data are perceived as meaningful.Potentially impactful directions for new solutions include providing well validated data on adherence, movement quality, or longitudinal progression, presented in formats that match clinical decision criteria.