Routine checking of blood pressure, heart rate, pulse rate, oxygen saturation, body temperature helps in quick and easy diagnosis of any underlying conditions. For instance, using a glucose metre to check the blood sugar levels in patients to check if they have diabetes or not is a relatable example of patient monitoring.
Early detection can prevent critical conditions from getting worse.
“Monitoring of patients” means measuring several parameters like blood pressure, body temperature, pulse and heart rate in a person to look for any possible physiological disorders and malfunction that might result in disease—for example, monitoring the heart rate in patients who are under unstable physiological conditions as influenced by anaesthesia or a patient with diabetes mellitus using a glucose metre to check the body’s blood glucose level.
The first discovered patient monitoring device was designed to check the body temperature and body pressure; however, in recent times, various monitoring devices have been designed and installed in the general ward rooms, ICU, CCU etc.
As suggested by healthcare workers, in the present times, patient monitors are the primary device that helps detect critical underlying conditions as it monitors the abnormal physiology of the patient.
The parameters to be monitored include low/high blood pressure, oxygen saturation level and heart rate.
General Body Monitoring
Monitoring patients, i.e., keeping a patient under observation to diagnose diseases, can be classified based on target interests.
- Cardiac monitoring
- Hemodynamic monitoring
- Blood glucose monitoring
- Respiratory monitoring
- Oxygen saturation monitoring
- Neurological monitoring
- Childbirth monitoring
- Body temperature monitoring
It takes into consideration certain vital parameters that include blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate. The bedside monitors in CCU and ICU have multimodal monitors integrated into them that keep in check all the vital parameters helping better supervision of the patient by the medical staff as they are continuously informed regarding the patient’s health status.
MEDICAL MONITOR
The medical device that is used for monitoring a patient is known as a medical monitor.
It consists of a sensor, a display device and a communication link for display and recording.
The medical monitor has:
- A sensor that is basically a biosensor
- A translating component that mainly translates the signals into the digital display
- A display device
- Communication links
MONITORING OF PATIENTS WITH HEART DISEASES
The monitoring of such patients is done using Cardiac monitoring. A continuous or time-to-time guided monitoring of the heart activity is done by taking an Electrocardiogram or ECG.
- ECG assesses the cardiac rhythm of the heart.
- ECG shows electrical conduction of the heart, showing the multitude of heart diseases if any.
- The ECG process is painless, having 12 leads where six leads are “arm leads” and the remaining six leads are the “torso leads.”
Waves on an ECG include:
- P wave that indicates atrial depolarisation.
- QRS wave indicates ventricular depolarisation.
- T wave indicates ventricular repolarisation.
The primary focus of cardiac monitoring is checking for arrhythmia, myocardial infarction.
For the purpose of personal use, the Holter monitor is widely used. It is an external monitor with a wireless monitor attached to the skin surface.
MONITORING OF PATIENTS RECEIVING LOCAL ANAESTHESIA
In patients receiving local anaesthesia, parameters like cardiovascular function, pulse palpation, visual assessments, oxygen saturation should be checked.
- Cardiovascular function: Most anaesthetics, in a dose-dependent manner, depress the cardiovascular system; it is important to check the cardiovascular function.
- Pulse palpation: Checking the peripheral pulse palpation is vital to check the cardiovascular function since pulse quality is based on the difference between systole and diastolic pressure.
- Visual Assessment: The most common and simplest way is the visual assessment which is the examination of the colour of the mucous membranes and the refill time of capillary.
MONITORING OF PATIENTS WITH BLOOD GLUCOSE
The monitoring of patients is done using glucose metres. The glucose metre tests the concentration of glucose in the blood. It is an electronic device that requires only one drop of blood, substantially reducing the time and effort required for testing and is cost-effective.
Process: To test the glucose level, a small piercing is done on the fingertip and blood is drawn, which is applied to the chemically active test strip. This test is commonly referred to as the Capillary blood glucose test. A patient with diabetes mellitus uses a glucose metre to check the body’s blood glucose level and continuously monitor them. A person with type 2 diabetes is asked to test twice a day.
The main purpose of blood glucose level monitoring is to check the patterns in fluctuating glucose levels in an individual’s blood so that healthcare providers can help plan meals, medication and suggest activities for better results.
MONITORING PATIENTS FOR OXYGEN SATURATION
Monitoring a patient’s oxygen saturation is done using a pulse oximeter. In this, a sensor is placed on the fingertip as the fingertip region has high blood flow rates compared to other body parts. The device passes two light wavelengths from the body parts to the photodetectors, which further measures the absorbance of light. In a healthy human, oxygen saturation should measure between 95-99; if the oxygen saturation drops below 90, immediate medical help should be taken.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that continuous monitoring of parameters in a patient, like blood pressure, heart rates, and oxygen saturation, helps doctors make quick and better diagnoses.
A patient monitoring system helps quantify derangement of human body functions, reducing the lag time needed for identifying the changing physiological state of the patients, allowing early detection as it can prevent many critical conditions from worsening.