The ways that patient wellness is monitored in medical facilities have changed as a result of ongoing improvements and innovations in sensor and connection technologies. The devices are now far more complicated than their predecessors despite the fact that healthcare personnel can use the procedures more easily.
Let’s examine the many parts of a patient monitor, their functions, and how they deliver high-quality medical care.
Table of Contents
What is a Patient Monitor?
A patient monitoring system is a tool or system that aids medical professionals in keeping track of a patient’s physiological health signs. It is used to monitor and measure the health parameters of critically ill patients, including heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, blood oxygen saturation, and many more factors. Such precise and timely information is helpful for making important choices that will result in effective patient care.
Reading a Patient Monitor
On the patient monitor, various numbers are displayed. It is of utmost importance that one should know how to read and interpret them correctly.
Heart Rate (HR)
The heart rate is often displayed in green at the top of the monitor. The beats per minute (bpm) value of the number will be indicated by an “HR” or “PR” (pulse rate) beside or just above it (bpm). A healthy adult’s resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 bpm.
Blood Pressure (BP)
Typically, the patient’s blood pressure readings are displayed on the screen as “SYST” or “SYS” for systolic and “DIAS” or “DIA” for diastolic. A 120/80 BP is considered to be average.
Oxygen Levels (SpO2)
The patient’s oxygen saturation (SpO2), which is a measurement of the quantity of oxygen in the patient’s blood, will be shown on the monitor under “SpO2.” However, it’s vital to keep in mind that some populations, including those with COPD, have a lower normal cutoff. Normal O2 saturation is 95% or more.
Respiration Rate (RR)
On the patient monitor, look for “RR” to find the patient’s respiratory rate. It is expressed in breaths per minute and has typical ranges of 12 to 20. This figure isn’t particularly precise, especially as the patient’s respiratory rate changes.
ECG Readout
Since the ECG readout on the patient monitor normally only shows one lead, it is not meant for an in-depth ECG study (most commonly lead II). Since it can provide some insight into the electrical activity of the heart and its level of function, it is more helpful for directing acute resuscitations or treating arrhythmias. Get a 12-lead ECG if you have any worries about a patient’s cardiac health! For junior learners in the ED, knowing the right lead placements for 12-lead ECGs and 5-point cardiac monitors is particularly crucial. Check out the CanadiEM Frontline Primer or this blog post from Life in the Fast Lane for resources to review lead placements for a comprehensive explanation.
SpO2 Waveform
Clinicians can tell if there are any problems with peripheral perfusion or circulation by looking at the SpO2 waveform. Since oxygenated blood is being pumped out of the heart with each heartbeat, each peak of the SpO2 waveform should coincide with a heartbeat on the ECG waveform at the same intervals.
Respiratory Waveform
Clinicians can monitor for any respiratory problems, such as apnea or dyspnea, using the “RESP” waveform on the monitor.
Different Types of Patient Monitors
Monitors for Patients are categorized
1. Structure-Based Classification
The monitoring devices can be categorized into the following four groups based on their structural design: portable monitors, general monitors, telemetry monitors, and Holter tape recording type ECG monitoring systems.
- Portable Monitor: It is lightweight, has a straightforward design, delivers consistent performance, and can be powered by batteries. It is typically utilized to rescue patients outside of care rooms. As an illustration, consider the Space Monitor portable monitor 90308. It can display 4 waveforms, track up to 11 parameters, connect to networks, run on AC or DC power, and display on LCD screens. It is completely functioning.
- General Monitor: It is most frequently used to describe a bedside monitor. It can be put next to the patient’s bed to keep an eye on certain conditions (such as heart rate, breathing, pulse rate, temperature and blood pressure, etc.). It frequently creates a system for monitoring with a central monitor.
- Telemetry Monitor: The wireless technique that uses telemetry is appropriate for patients who can move around.
- Holter Tape Monitoring System for ECG: When the patient is moving about, breathing, or working, this device may continually record the ECG activity and record aberrant ECGs with short-term onset.
2. Classification by Application
- Vitals Monitor
One of the most fundamental and important types of patient monitoring is keeping track of a patient’s vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. The first indicators of a patient’s condition deteriorating show up in their vital signs. The data that vitals monitoring equipment displays may differ. The majority of devices show at least the previously listed three vitals, although more sophisticated sensors may also show respiration or blood oxidation levels. These gadgets can be set up to notify workers when vital signs drop dangerously low.
- Fetal Monitoring
It’s crucial to keep an eye on both the mother’s and the baby’s vital signs during labor, especially their heart rates. This is essential to ensuring the baby’s well-being during the entire birth process. Although doctors can periodically check the heart rates of the mother and the baby using a stethoscope, it is frequently much simpler for doctors to use electronic fetal monitoring equipment that can track the mother’s and the baby’s heart rates and alert them to any deviations.
- Brain Monitoring
In a hospital, patients with neurological problems are frequently in one of the most precarious positions. This includes individuals who have suffered strokes or hemorrhages, as well as those who have sustained head and neck traumas. These patients need ongoing brain activity monitoring, as do patients who have received anesthetic treatments. This is due to the fact that these patients frequently experience unconsciousness and are unable to offer the same vocal response as other patients.
Parts of a Patient Monitor
Each patient monitoring system may be distinct; for example, a pulse oximeter’s construction will not be the same as a glucose monitor’s. The actual patient monitoring device, capital equipment, and software are the three broad categories into which the parts of a patient monitoring system are divided.
- Sensors
The typical patient monitoring system consists of a sensor for recording crucial patient data and an interconnected system for sending the data to the capital equipment. An illustration of a patient monitoring device component is the part of a pulse oximeter that attaches to the patient’s finger, detects their pulse, and transmits it to the capital equipment.
- Capital Equipment
Important patient data is gathered by the patient monitoring device and sent to the apparatus where it is analyzed, saved, and displayed. Capital equipment is the name for the devices that process, archive, and display this data.
A complicated connecting system of connectors, PCBs, and wire harnesses is used by the majority of capital equipment used in patient monitoring, along with some sort of screen or display where the data is shared in a usable format. One piece of capital equipment used in a patient monitoring system is a computer screen that displays data from a patient’s ECG P-Wave.
- The Software
The patient data must be processed after it has been transferred from the device to the capital equipment. The software makes the data usable while the hardware collects the data. Any patient monitoring system must have the drivers, applications, and programs that process, store, and graphically transform the information.
Patient Monitor Working Principle
Patient monitors give caregivers the ability to keep a closer eye on their charges, give important health-related information, and perhaps even head off difficulties. The capabilities of patient monitors vary, but they always function by gathering information from sensors positioned on or near the body. The information from this data is then processed and analyzed to show caregivers crucial details about the patient’s status. This data is also kept in the patient monitor device’s internal memory.
Some tiny sensors that are affixed to the patient’s body and fingers and communicate data to the monitor are used for continuous patient monitoring. Different probes offer different parameters, such as spo2 probes that provide spo2 readings and temperature probes that provide temperature data. These vital indicators will be displayed as waveforms and numbers on the patient monitor.
Patient monitors show waveforms on the left and numeric vital signs on the right, providing a general overview of the real-time parameters.
Advantages of Patient Monitor
- It is crucially important to continuously check the patient’s critical physiological signs while they are receiving treatment. Systems for monitoring patients play a significant role in medical care. Technology is always improving, which not only makes it easier to communicate vital physiological signals to medical professionals but also makes measurements simpler, improving the effectiveness of patient monitoring.
- Multi-parameter patient monitoring systems are employed to convey critical information including electrocardiograms, blood pressure readings, and respiration rates.
- Continuous patient monitoring is required for the medical treatments provided in the intensive care unit.
- Patient monitoring systems offer a constant view of the subject’s physiological state and deliver prompt therapy when necessary for persistent observation of the patient.
- Patient monitoring systems are widely used in the medical industry and are very customizable.
Uses and Applications of Patient Monitor
The use of patient monitoring systems spans a wide range of circumstances. In addition to being used often in hospitals, patient monitors are also frequently seen in the homes of people with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, in order to keep a watch on their vital signs and spot any consequences. So let’s learn about some of the most widespread applications for patient monitors in the medical industry:
- Obtain a thorough assessment of the patient’s health.
- After starting treatment, track the patient’s development.
- Keep track of a patient’s vital signs while they undergo surgery to reduce the likelihood of difficulties.
- Monitor the patient’s postoperative healing.
- Recognize the patient’s reaction to a particular treatment and then change the dosage.
- Establish a diagnosis.
- Keep track of a diabetic patient’s blood glucose levels.
- Keep an eye out for arrhythmias while monitoring the patient’s heart rate.
- Constantly attend to patients that require extra care.
- Monitor the patients who are confined to beds.
- Monitor a patient’s comatose brain waves.
- Portable patient monitors make it possible for paramedics to send information to hospitals, hunt for a diagnosis, and aid in the prevention of additional difficulties.
Precautions
There are only a few precautions to take care of with the patient monitor
- It should be properly connected to the patient. All the sensors should be in contact with the patient.
- One should know how to read the monitor properly.
One of the most important pieces of medical equipment, patient monitors help save millions of lives every day. To give their patients the best care possible, every hospital needs a patient monitoring system. We hope that this blog post has given you a better understanding of patient monitors’ operation and significance.
