Evaluation of a Wearable Device for Cardiorespiratory Monitoring in Healthy Anaesthetised Cats

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and agreement of heart rate (HR) and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂) measurements obtained using the wearable Owlet Smart Sock (OSS) in anaesthetised cats, compared with a reference veterinary bedside monitor (Monitor 1).

Twenty healthy cats aged 1-2 years and weighing 3.2 and 5.1 kg were enrolled. All animals underwent a standardised general anaesthesia protocol. HR and SpO₂ were recorded simultaneously using the OSS and Monitor 1 at 1-minute intervals for 20 min. A total of 307 paired measurements were analysed. Agreement was assessed using Bland-Altman analysis and clinical equivalence was evaluated using the two one-sided tests (TOST) procedure, with predefined equivalence margins of ±10 bpm for HR and ±3% for SpO₂.

A very strong correlation was observed between OSS and Monitor 1 for HR measurements (r = 0.995; p < 0.0001). The mean difference was 0.18 bpm (95% CI: -0.38-0.40), demonstrating clinical equivalence (p < 0.0001). For SpO₂ measurements, a statistically significant linear correlation was identified (r = 0.634; p < 0.0001). The mean difference was -0.5% (95% CI: -0.74 to -0.29), remaining within the predefined ±3% equivalence margin and indicating clinical equivalence (p < 0.0001).

In healthy cats, the OSS demonstrated high agreement with the reference monitor for HR measurements and provided clinically acceptable SpO₂ values within established equivalence limits. Further validation under diverse clinical conditions and in different patient populations is warranted.