This is a descriptive trial analysis of vital signs during hospitalization in a subset of patients, most of whom were being treated for cardiac disease. ICU patients at the Cardiocentro Ticino Hospital (Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland) were included in the trial. They were monitored with a medically approved existing monitoring system designated as the gold standard system (Dräger-Healthcare). In addition, the innovative wireless equipment (SmartCardia) was used to record ECG and SpO₂ for the duration of the patient’s stay in the ICU. The study was designed as a pilot trial. We chose patients in the ICU because they are monitored 24 hours a day, making comparison with our device easier. This study is a first step prior to testing the device as a telemetry system or for 24-hour outpatient monitoring. Although the device was designed to detect arrhythmia, this feature was not tested in this trial. We deliberately decided to first confirm a high level of reliability and therefore focused on HR and SpO₂ in this study. This corresponds to a validation of the device for HR and SpO₂ monitoring. The next step will be to test the device as an ambulatory or telemetry monitoring device.

Patients scheduled for major surgery or hospitalized in the ICU with an indication for cardiac and respiratory monitoring were asked to participate. Patients with an implantable cardiac device as well as those allergic to adhesive or with thorax skin irritation were excluded.

The inclusion criteria were as follows:

The system is a wireless patch with a low-cost disposable component and a rechargeable/reusable electronic unit (dimensions 65 mm × 125 mm; Figure 1). The patch measures a single-lead ECG, HR, HR variability, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, skin temperature, posture, activity, and blood pressure variations. The data are transmitted by Bluetooth to a mobile phone or router. The measured signals and parameters are also stored on the device. The device is placed on the left upper portion of the patient’s chest (Figure 2). The patch-based device offers up to 7-day data storage and 3.5-day real-time connectivity through a smartphone connected to cloud storage on a single battery charge. The ability to receive, store, and interpret a broad range of parameters offers the opportunity to go far beyond monitoring individual parameters. In this study, the ECG-based HR and SpO₂ measurements taken by the SmartCardia device were compared with the measurements obtained by the standard monitoring system used in the ICU.

The materials and the patches that have skin contact meet the ISO 10993 guidelines, specifically the criteria for skin irritation, skin sensitization, and in vitro cytotoxicity.

Two SmartCardia patches were attached to the chest and the left arm, respectively, of the patient (Figure 2). A high-quality ECG signal is recorded with the chest device (Figure 3), while the arm device records the best oxygen saturation signal.

The endpoints of this pilot trial were the following: safety of the wireless device, tolerance of the device, correlation of HR measurements obtained by the wireless device and the conventional monitoring device, and correlation of SpO₂ measurements obtained by the wireless device and the conventional monitoring device.

Sample size could not be calculated, as no power calculations exist in the literature. Data pairs of HR and SpO₂ measurements were analyzed with the Bland and Altman method, as suggested by Breteler et al [7,12]. This method was used to account for within-subject variations by correcting the differences between the average differences. Bias between the reference monitor and the sensor, with its 95% limits, was determined for both HR and SpO₂. The correlation between the two systems was considered optimal when the mean HR differed by <5 beats per minute or <10% and when SpO₂ variations were <4%.

The Clarke Error Grid was used to determine the clinical accuracy of the wireless sensor compared with the reference standard [11]. Performance was analyzed by the percentage of data that was lost or noninterpretable.

Monitoring is a critical issue in the ICU and intermediate care units during the first days following the intervention. Today, cardiac monitoring is carried out with skin electrodes. The signal is transmitted by wires to a bedside monitor and a central station. In this pilot trial, we tested the ability of a new wireless vital sign sensor to monitor patients. The first generation of wireless sensors was shown to be useful in the detection of abnormalities in vital signs, sometimes preceding adverse events [7-15]. It is well accepted that early detection of arrhythmias is important since they can precede serious complications in patients in the ICU or general ward [14,15]. The quality of the signal is dependent on the physical device connections and good contact between electrodes and the patient’s skin. Monitoring of SpO₂ is usually performed using a system attached to the finger of the patient, with a cable transmission to the central station. Recently, wireless monitoring has been confirmed as a valuable tool to detect adverse events in high-risk patients [4-6]. A recent study showed significant differences between different wireless sensors [8]. For example, the Radius-7 (Masimo) underestimates HR, as it calculates HR from the plethysmographic waveform obtained from the pulse oximeter probe. The EarlySense system may also underestimate HR during periods of arrhythmia, as it derives HR from cardiac ballistic movement associated with the ejection of blood with each heart cycle. During a rapid ventricular rate, some beats will not be long enough to allow for ventricular filling and will therefore not result in a detectable peripheral pulse. SmartCardia’s patch measures and stores ECG data and parameters for up to 7 days on a single charge. A comparison of ECG patches by Sensium and VitalConnect [8] showed that they both have a limited storage capacity of 10 hours or less. Additionally, these patches do not measure SpO₂, while this study demonstrated the feasibility of measuring both SpO₂ and HR with the SmartCardia patch [16,17].

The benefits of patient monitoring with wireless sensors have been shown [18-21]. To be useful for patient management after major surgical interventions, reliable wireless sensors must be connected to a central system with alarm notification. False alerts should be avoided to increase the reliability of the monitoring system.

The new wireless SmartCardia device, tested in this trial, is a combined system allowing monitoring of both HR and SpO₂. The recording system is in a small patch-box that is adhered to the patient’s skin without wires, avoiding undesired problems related to wire disconnection. In addition, it is user-friendly in terms of installation. Transportation of the patient is also facilitated without the need to disconnect and reconnect wires.

This study was mainly designed to validate the sensor accuracy of the SmartCardia system, not to clinically monitor patients in the ICU. Thus, the sample size is rather small, and the number of events was too small to identify specific signs or patterns of adverse events. However, our results do provide insight into the ability of wireless sensors to assist in patient monitoring and early detection of patient deterioration.

In this pilot trial, we showed that the HR data obtained with the SmartCardia device is of good quality as compared with the gold standard monitoring system. We identified that both this new system and the gold standard system can fail. The major problem identified with this first generation of the SmartCardia system is maintaining adequate skin contact. With further technical improvements, this problem has been solved, leading to 100% success in device attachment. We also noted that optimal positioning of the device on the patient’s chest is of crucial importance. In the small number of patients with poor recording quality, the device was not positioned correctly. Better placement of the device allowed significant improvement of the recording. We also noted that in 2 patients, a technical problem of the SmartCardia device was the reason for failure. We identified this problem and improvements were made in the most recent generation of devices.

The main limitation of this trial is the relatively small number of patients. In addition, it has only been tested in patients hospitalized in the ICU. Tests in postoperative patients in the ward must be realized.

We demonstrated that a new wireless device provides good quality HR measurements in patients in the ICU. Furthermore, SpO₂ monitoring is feasible, although further technical improvements are mandatory. Based on these results, further trials should be performed in an outpatient population to define the place of such devices in daily practice. Finally, it should be compared with conventional Holter monitoring.