Web address:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200
9/11/
091102121632.htm

Digital 'Plaster' For Monitoring Vital

Signs Undergoes First Clinical Trials

Sensium™ digital plaster. (Credit: Image courtesy of Imperial College London)

ScienceDaily (Nov. 2, 2009) — A wireless digital 'plaster' that can monitor vital signs
continuously and remotely is being tried out with patients and healthy volunteers at Imperial
College Healthcare NHS Trust, in a new clinical trial run by Imperial College London
researchers.

Toumaz Technology Ltd's Sensium™ digital 'plaster' or 'patch' is a disposable device that
sticks to a patient's chest. It is designed to allow patients to have their health monitored
continuously without being wired up to bulky, fixed monitoring machines, potentially freeing
some patients from their hospital beds.

The digital plaster is based on innovative technology created by engineers at Imperial

College London. It contains a wireless, smart, ultra-low power sensor platform in a silicon
chip, which can monitor a range of vital signs like body temperature, heart rate and
respiration in real-time.

The intention is that healthcare professionals will be able to download this information using
a mobile phone, enabling them to pick up on any critical changes in their patients' status on
a 24-7 basis and allowing early detection and treatment of any unforeseen complications.

The data can also be integrated automatically into the patient's electronic medical record.
The team that developed the Sensium™ digital plaster from Toumaz Technology Ltd, a
spin-out from Imperial College London, hope that it will enable some patients to recover
from surgery and illness at home rather than in hospital. It should also mean that hospital
in-patients have greater mobility. In addition, it could allow doctors to extend continuous
monitoring of vital signs to a broader range of patients.

The disposable plaster has a working life of several days, after which it can be replaced,
ensuring that infection control can be maintained.

Professor Chris Toumazou FRS led the team that developed the plaster and he is the CEO
and co-founder of Toumaz Technology Ltd and the Director of the Institute of Biomedical
Engineering at Imperial College London. He said:

"We think the digital plaster could revolutionise healthcare and we're really excited to see it
being tried out with patients for the first time. Ultimately, the plaster could mean that doctors
can keep track of any worrying changes in patients' vital signs 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, and then deal with any problems that arise really quickly. We think that fewer patients
will have medical complications if doctors can spot health problems as soon as they arise
and then treat each patient accordingly.

"We're hoping that the plaster will improve the health and wellbeing of a vast range of
patients -- from patients on a general hospital ward to people with chronic diseases like
diabetes and cardiovascular disease who want to have their health monitored without
having to keep visiting the hospital. At the same time, the plaster should free up doctors
and nurses' time by allowing them to keep an eye on patients without continuously checking
bits of machinery," added Professor Toumazou.

In the new trial, which is funded by CareFusion, researchers will be exploring whether the
physiological data that doctors and nurses can obtain using the digital plaster system is
equivalent to that which can be acquired using the current gold-standard monitors in use in
hospitals.

The trial is being conducted in three phases: an initial phase with non-patient volunteers,
followed by two patient study groups from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust --
patients recovering from surgery and patients with specific medical conditions in the general
wards. Those taking part in the trial will wear the digital plaster and they will also be
connected to a state-of-the-art monitoring machine, so that the researchers can compare
the performance of the two. Initial results are expected by the end of December 2009.

Dr Stephen Brett, the researcher who is leading the clinical trial, who is an Honorary Senior
Lecturer at Imperial College London and a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "This project involves taking an elegant piece
of engineering, developing it into a potentially clinically usable system and evaluating it in
an acute hospital setting. Currently, unless they are in critical care or are identified as being
at particular risk, most patients only have their vital signs measured every few hours. This
can't give us a complete picture of a patient's health.

"If the new technology proves effective, it could enable us to collect vital sign information
really frequently from large numbers of hospital patients, with minimal inconvenience to
them. As the plaster is wireless, we would be able to collect the data without impairing
patients' ability to move about. This would be great because it is often important for a
patient's recovery to ensure that they can stay mobile."

The trial is taking place within the Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), a partnership
between Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, formed in
October 2007. The AHSC's aim is to improve the quality of life of patients and populations
by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies as quickly as possible.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121632.htm
Summary:

Toumaz Technology Ltd’s Sensium™ digital ‘plaster’ or ‘patch is a disposable

device that sticks to a patient’s chest. It is designed to allow patients to have their health
monitored continuously without being wired up to bulky, fixed monitoring machines,
potentially freeing some patients from their hospital beds. The digital plaster is based on
innovative technology created by engineers at Imperial College London. It contains a
wireless, smart, ultra-low power sensor platform in a silicon chip, which can monitor a range
of vital signs like body temperature, heart rate and respiration in real time. The intention is
that healthcare professionals will be able to download this information using a mobile
phone, enabling them to pick up on any critical changes in their patient’s status on a 24-7
basis and allowing early detection and treatment of any unforeseen medical record. The
disposable plaster has a working life of several days, after which it can be replaced,
ensuring that infection control can be maintained.

In the new trial, which is funded by Care Fusion, researches will be exploring
whether the physiological data that doctors and nurses can obtain using the digital plaster
system is equivalent to that which can be acquired using the current gold-standard monitors
used in hospitals.

The trial is being conducted in three phases: an initial phase with non-patient
volunteers, followed by two patient study groups from Imperial College Healthcare NHS
Trust – patients recovering from surgery and patients with specific medical conditions in the
general wards. Those taking part in the trial will wear the digital plaster and they will also be
connected to a state-of-the-art monitoring machine, so that the researchers can compare
the performance of the two.
Reaction:

With this article that I had researched, it stated that this “digital plaster” or “patch” is
a new device in monitoring a range of vital signs like temperature, heart rate and respiration
for 24 hours a day and seven days a week. It is great because these will be able to
download this information using a mobile phone, enabling them to pick up on any critical
changes in their patients’ status on a 24-7 basis and allowing early detection and treatment
of any unforeseen complications. The data can also be integrated automatically into the
patient’s electronic medical record. It is good for the patients because maybe fewer patients
will have medical complications if doctors can spot health problems as soon as they arise
and then treat each patient accordingly. It also lessens the inconvenience that the patient
may have when the nurses check their vital signs every four hours. And it will be better to
that because you can get the vital signs for every hour.

But still, this new discovery in clinical trials. And this aims to improve the quality of
life of patients and populations. The only disadvantage of this digital plaster is the learned
style of getting the vital signs of the patients will be forgotten to use. We will just depend on
this plaster to monitor the patient’s vital signs and these may also be costly especially when
it comes to government hospitals which cater a lot of patients in a ward.

The advantage of this digital plaster is it could enable us to collect vital signs
information really frequently from large numbers of hospital patients, with minimal
inconvenience to them. As the plaster is wireless, we would be able to collect the data that
we need without impairing patient’s ability to move about, The only disadvantage of this
digital plaster is when we imply this to our country, it will cost a lot for us especially we cater
almost 400-600 patients in our government hospitals, and with that, instead of spending
money just to buy this kind of new equipment, why not donate the money to those who are
in need to buy medicines for their patient.
Recommendation:

This research is recommended to the Department of Health and also to World

Health Organization to know the new discovery and help the public to improve their quality
of life and translating these discoveries into new therapies as quickly as possible.

It is also recommended to nursing education, to update the students about the new
discoveries that improve the quality of life of patients and populations. It is also proposed to
nursing research to find ways to new discoveries that may improve the life of people.

It is recommended because it monitors the patient’s condition by keeping the 24-7

data of the vital signs that can be downloaded on a mobile phone and alarm the doctor if
there are variations in the patient’s vital signs.
 Angeles University Foundation
College of Nursing

Digital ‘Plaster’ For

Monitoring Vital Signs
Undergoes First Clinical
Trials

Submitted By:

Aguas, Amiel Joseph R.

BSN III-10

Group 37

Submitted To:

Elmer Bondoc RN, MN