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Respiratory monitoring and apnoea detection in paediatric and neonatal patients using a wearable accelerometer-based
Hannah Vennard1,2, Elise Buchan1, Jennifer Miller3
1Department of Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, UK.
Insights
This study assesses a new chest-worn sensor for monitoring infant and child breathing, aiming to improve data collection for conditions like apnoea. The research focuses on the feasibility and acceptability of this wearable technology in pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pediatric Respiratory Medicine
- Wearable Technology
Background:
- Accurate respiratory monitoring is crucial for pediatric health but challenging due to patient size and equipment tolerance.
- Existing methods for monitoring respiratory rate and pattern in infants and children can be difficult to implement and poorly tolerated.
- This study addresses the need for a more feasible and acceptable method for respiratory data collection in vulnerable pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of using a chest-worn accelerometer-based motion sensor for collecting respiratory data in pediatric patients.
- To assess the acceptability of this novel biosensor technology among children, infants, and their guardians.
- To explore the utility of wearable sensors for monitoring respiratory patterns in high-risk pediatric groups.
Main Methods:
- An observational feasibility study conducted over two years at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow.
- Recruitment of three patient groups: children for cardiorespiratory polygraphy, neonatal inpatients, and children for video telemetry (75 per group).
- Data collection includes chest/abdominal motion via biosensor, standard clinical monitoring, and patient/guardian feedback questionnaires.
Main Results:
- This is a pre-results stage study; data collection and analysis are ongoing.
- The study aims to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the accelerometer-based biosensor for pediatric respiratory monitoring.
- Results will provide insights into the effectiveness of wearable technology for capturing respiratory data in infants and children.
Conclusions:
- The findings will inform the potential use of wearable accelerometer-based biosensors for improved respiratory monitoring in pediatric care.
- Successful implementation could enhance the diagnosis and management of respiratory conditions in infants and children.
- This research contributes to advancing non-invasive respiratory monitoring techniques for pediatric populations at risk.
Introduction:
Accurate evaluation of respiratory rate and pattern is important in health and disease; however, it can be challenging in children and babies due to small size and poor tolerability of existing monitoring equipment. This protocol outlines a study evaluating the feasibility of collecting respiratory data using a chest-worn accelerometer-based motion sensor in paediatric patients at risk of apnoea, respiratory failure and sudden death.
Methods And Analysis:
This is an observational feasibility study over a 2-year period. The biosensor is an accelerometer worn on an ECG electrode during standard care at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. We aim to recruit three groups of patients (75 patients to each group): (1) Children attending for overnight cardiorespiratory polygraphy (0 to ≤16 years), (2) neonatal inpatients (from 30 weeks gestation) and (3) children attending for video telemetry at the epilepsy monitoring unit (0 to ≤16 years). Measurements will include (1) chest and/or abdominal wall motion measured by the worn biosensors; (2) standard clinical monitoring data will be collected to support biosensor data interpretation and (3) acceptability will be measured by a feedback questionnaire completed by patients and their parents/guardians.
Ethics And Dissemination:
This study protocol was reviewed and approved by Yorkshire and The Humber-Leeds East Research Ethics Committee, approval number 314 696. This study involves human participants; written informed consent and assent, when appropriate, will be obtained from participants (or their parent/legal guardian/next of kin) to participate in the study. The study will be carried out in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (1964) standard reporting. Study findings will be reported clearly and transparently with relevant stakeholders including researchers, practitioners and publicly available databases. Results from this study will be presented at national and international conferences and reported in peer-reviewed publications.
Trial Registration Number:
NCT06292299 pre-results stage.
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