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Infant home respiratory monitoring using pulse oximetry

Paul Seddon1, Sonia Sobowiec-Kouman1, David Wertheim2

  • 1Respiratory Care, Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, Brighton, UK.

Archives of Disease in Childhood
|July 9, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Home monitoring of infant respiratory rate (RR) using pulse oximeter plethysmogram signals is feasible and accurate. This method provides reliable RR data for preterm infants, improving illness detection during home care.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Neonatal Medicine
  • Respiratory Physiology

Background:

  • Respiratory rate (RR) is a critical indicator of infant health, particularly for vulnerable neonates.
  • Existing RR monitoring solutions are not practical for long-term home use.
  • Previous research showed accurate RR measurement from pulse oximeter plethysmogram (pleth) in hospitalized term infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of measuring RR from pleth signals in preterm infants during overnight home monitoring.
  • To compare RR measurements derived from pleth signals with those from respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP).

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous overnight SpO2, pleth, and RIP data were collected from 24 preterm infants in their homes.
  • RR was calculated from pleth signal analysis and compared to RR measured by RIP bands.
  • Pleth signal quality was assessed by identifying and quantifying artefacts.

Main Results:

  • The median respiratory rates derived from RIP and pleth were comparable (42 breaths/min).
  • A higher percentage of epochs were rejected due to artefacts in pleth data (20%) compared to RIP (10%).
  • Despite artefacts, the pleth signal demonstrated accuracy in RR measurement.

Conclusions:

  • Home-based RR monitoring using pulse oximeter pleth signals is accurate and feasible for preterm infants.
  • This non-invasive method holds potential for improved early illness detection in vulnerable infants at home.

Keywords:
infantpulse oximetryrespiratory rate

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