Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
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The post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) is the central hub for recovery after surgery, especially when the surgery is performed under general anesthesia. Aside from clinical aspects, respiratory impairment is one of the major causes of morbidity and affected recovery in the PACU and should therefore be monitored. In previous studies, infrared thermography was applied to assess the breathing rate (BR) of healthy volunteers. ⋯ For validation purposes, BRs derived from body surface electrocardiography were measured simultaneously. In general, a close agreement between the two techniques (r = 0.607, p = 0.002 upon arrival, and r = 0.849, p < 0.001 upon discharge from the PACU) was obtained. In conclusion, the algorithm was demonstrated to be feasible and reliable under these challenging conditions.
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Heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) are important parameters for patient assessment. However, current measurement techniques require attachment of sensors to the patient’s body, often leading to discomfort, stress and even pain. A new algorithm is presented for monitoring both HR and RR using thermal imaging. ⋯ For HR, the root-mean-square errors (RMSE) for phases A and B were 3.53 ± 1.53 and 3.43 ± 1.61 beats per minute, respectively. For RR, the RMSE between thermal imaging and piezoplethysmography stayed around 0.71 ± 0.30 breaths per minute (phase A). This study demonstrates that infrared thermography may be a promising, clinically relevant alternative for the assessment of HR and RR.