Currently, technology-based patient monitoring is generally only performed in intensive care units, and during surgeries and post-anesthesia phase after the surgery. However, also patients in regular wards, for example people receiving opiate-based analgesia and being therefore in increased risk of respiratory depression would benefit from continuous monitoring. We propose PaMo, a ward-wide system consisting wearable monitoring units, local data gateway devices, and a central monitoring station for monitoring the status of all patients staying in the ward. The wearable units measure basic vitals including 8-lead ECG, respiration, and blood oxygen saturation and analyze the data with built-in algorithms for cardiac arrhythmias, ST-level, respiration rate, SpO2, and include also an alarm logic for alerting healthcare personnel in case of deteriorating patient status.
The system can facilitate up to 20 simultaneously monitored patients. In addition to the calculated vital parameters, also the raw measurement data is transferred to the central unit and stored in the back end where it can be later retrieved. Also trends of vital parameters can be observed though dedicates view. The wearable units are designed to be used for 24-hours, after which the device is replaced by a new one and returned for charging.
In addition to monitoring for respiratory suppression, PaMo system can also facilitate automating updating of Early Warning Score, a parameter widely used in hospitals for monitoring of patients' status.