Articles related to PATIENT MONITORING

Revolutionizing Sleep Apnea Diagnosis with Wearable Technology Tackling the increasing prevalence of sleep disorders like sleep apnea, Georgia Tech researchers have brought a paradigm shift in the field of sleep diagnostics. Their development of a wearable sleep monitor patch, characterized by its accuracy and comfort, offers the promise of a more accessible and cost-effective means of diagnosing sleep disorders, revolutionizing the way sleep medicine is practiced.

AI technologies are reshaping the world of nursing, creating opportunities for enhanced patient care and efficiency in healthcare delivery. In this ever-evolving landscape, nurses can use AI to guide decisions, take autonomous actions, and predict risks, making them critical players in this transformation. Clinical decision support tools, empowered by AI, assist nurses in making informed clinical decisions. These tools, such as alerts in the electronic health record (EHR), clinical practice guidelines, and order sets, boost the accuracy and specificity of predictions and suggestions beyond human capacity. For example, AI algorithms can accurately predict fall risks and suggest interventions, ensuring patients’ safety while reducing human error. Meanwhile, mobile health and sensor-based technologies are paving the way for remote patient care. These technologies, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, allow nurses to deliver care and monitor patients with limited resources, proving particularly beneficial for managing chronic illnesses. Through smartphones, apps, and wearable technologies, nurses can receive real-time data about patients’ health and respond accordingly. In addition to these, voice assistants and robotics are joining the nursing workforce. Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant can potentially collect patient data and remind patients about medication or checkups, easing the load on nursing staff. Similarly, […]

The article explores social interactions and institutional structures impacting the consistent practice of 24-hour rooming-in for new mothers and newborns in hospitals. Researchers employed an institutional ethnographic design, gathering data through semistructured interviews and unit observations from February 2020 to June 2021. Seven mother-baby nurses participated in interviews. Additionally, three on-unit observations lasting 2 hours each took place. From the collected data, the researchers unearthed a shared sentiment: “Baby-Friendly” practices don’t always equate to being “mother-friendly.” Three primary social interaction themes surfaced from the data analysis: viewing the mother as a patient, managing expectations, and inconsistent practices. The nurses’ perspectives revealed the complexity of managing maternal care while juggling newborn demands. Discrepancies in methods highlighted the need for standardized practices to maintain consistency across care provision. The analysis also identified three significant institutional factors that affect 24-hour rooming-in: rates of labor induction and cesarean births, nurse staffing, and nursery use monitoring. Labor induction and cesarean births often disrupt the smooth transition to rooming-in. Limited nurse staffing presents challenges in managing both mother and baby needs, while nursery use monitoring practices influence rooming-in implementation. The article’s findings provide critical insights into the daily organization and experience of 24-hour rooming-in from a […]

The FDA has granted clearance for Casana’s Heart Seat™ toilet seat to be used in homes for monitoring heart rate and oxygen saturation (SpO2) in adults aged 22 and above, weighing between 90 and 350 pounds. The toilet seat is equipped with sensors that can measure these vital signs and transmit the data to the Casana Cloud automatically. Healthcare providers can then access the data generated by three sensors: a ballistocardiogram, which measures heart mechanical activity; an electrocardiogram, which measures heart electrical activity; and a photoplethysmogram, which detects blood volume changes. A study assessing the accuracy of the seat demonstrated consistent measurements of blood pressure, stroke volume, and blood oxygenation compared to a hospital-grade vital signs monitor. Casana intends to conduct further testing and plans to submit an application to the FDA this year to include additional clinical measurements, such as blood pressure monitoring. The Heart Seat is expected to be available by the end of 2023.

At the 2023 HIMSS meeting, Dr. Sandra Kane-Gill discussed a new alert system being developed at UPMC to improve care for patients at risk for drug-associated acute kidney injury (AKI). According to Dr. Kane-Gill, drugs are involved in approximately 30% of AKI cases in hospitalized patients, but imprecise alert systems mean that at-risk patients could be overlooked. To address this challenge, Dr. Kane-Gill led a consensus-building project to identify 20 drugs that are probably or definitely nephrotoxic with routine use. UPMC has developed a prototype alert tool for AKI that uses this list of nephrotoxic drugs to accurately detect AKI in patients. Preliminary results indicate that for every five alerts generated, there was one case of drug-associated AKI, a higher accuracy rate than for other alert systems. Dr. Kane-Gill plans to further refine the alert tool before deploying it in practice at UPMC and is also interested in using machine learning to prevent episodes of kidney injury.

The new transistor technology could solve the problem that electrochemical signaling is typically too weak to monitor effectively. Current sensors have such low signal strength that it is impossible to monitor tissue responses in real time. Instead, blood samples or biopsies are used. The new technology lays a foundation for real time noninvasive, highly sensitive monitoring.