Benchtop Assessment and Real-World Demonstration of a Multi-Modal Wearable Health Patch

Vital sign monitoring in inpatient and outpatient settings provides clinicians with critical data for chronic disease management, post-acute care, and early health deterioration detection. This study introduces the Perin Health Patch (PHP), a chest wearable that combines the functionality of disparate health devices, such as a thermometer, pulse oximeter, spirometer, and Holter, activity, and blood pressure monitors, into a single tool. The PHP can enable clinical-grade, automated, and longitudinal health metrics with minimal effort from the user by capturing physiological signals at a customizable interval from six time-aligned sensing modalities, including auscultation, electrocardiography (ECG), photoplethysmography (PPG), bioimpedance (BioZ), skin temperature, and motion. Benchtop testing was performed to evaluate the accuracy and performance of each PHP modality when excited with well-defined stimuli. Several physiological metrics (heart rate, respiratory rate, pulse oximeter R-values, temperature) were extracted from PHP recordings while a subject was active and at rest. To illustrate the utility of combining multiple sensing modalities, the pulse respiration quotient (PRQ), a metric of cardiorespiratory resilience, was determined from both BioZ and ECG data. Overall, the study shows the PHP captures multiple sensing modalities with high accuracy during bench testing and is equipped for longitudinal vital sign monitoring on a subject. With additional algorithmic development and clinical validation, the PHP shows promise for accurate and automated vital sign monitoring in hospital and home settings.