Patient-Monitoring Systems

Abstract

Continuous measurement of patient parameters such as heart rate and rhythm, respiratory rate, blood pressure, blood-oxygen saturation, and many other parameters have become a common feature of the care of critically ill patients. When accurate and immediate decision-making are crucial for effective patient care, electronic monitors frequently are used to collect and display physiological data. Increasingly, such data are collected using non-invasive sensors from less seriously ill patients in a hospital’s medical-surgical units, nursing homes, or patients’ own homes to detect unexpected life-threatening conditions or to record routine but required data efficiently.