Vital-SCOPE: Design and Evaluation of a Smart Vital Sign Monitor for Simultaneous Measurement of Pulse Rate, Respiratory Rate, and Body Temperature for Patient Monitoring

Abstract

Consistent vital sign monitoring is critically important for early detection of clinical deterioration of patients in hospital settings. Mostly, nurses routinely measure and document the primary vital signs of all patients 2‐3 times daily to assess their condition. To reduce nurse workload and thereby improve quality of patient care, a smart vital sign monitor named “Vital‐SCOPE” for simultaneous measurement of vital signs was developed. Vital-SCOPE consists of multiple sensors, including a reflective photo sensor, thermopile, and medical radar, to be used in simultaneous pulse rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature monitoring within 10 s. It was tested in laboratory and hospital settings. Bland-Altman and Pearson’s correlation analyses were used to compare the Vital-SCOPE results to those of reference measurements. The mean difference of the respiratory rate between respiratory effort belt and Vital-SCOPE was 0.47 breaths per minute with the 95% limit of agreement ranging from −7.4 to 6.5 breaths per minute. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.63 (P<0.05). Moreover, the mean difference of the pulse rate between electrocardiogram and Vital-SCOPE was 3.4 beats per minute with the 95% limit of agreement ranging from −13 to 5.8 beats per minute; the Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.91 (P<0.01), indicating strong linear relationship.