Novel device for monitoring respiratory rate during endoscopy-A thermodynamic sensor

BACKGROUND: Monitoring ventilation accurately is an indispensable aspect of patient care in procedural settings. The current gold standard method of monitoring ventilation is by measuring exhaled carbon dioxide concentration, known as capnography. A new device utilizing thermodynamic measurement, the Linshom Respiratory Monitoring Device (LRMD), has been designed to measure respiratory rate (RR) by using the temperature of exhaled breath. We hypothesized that the temperature sensor is at least equivalent in accuracy to capnography in monitoring ventilation. AIM: To determine if the temperature sensor is equivalent to capnography in monitoring procedural ventilation. METHODS: In this prospective study, participants were individually fitted with a face mask monitored by both LRMD and capnography. The following data were collected: gender, age, body mass index, type of procedure, and doses of medication. For each patient, we report the mean RR for each device as well as the mean difference. All analyses were performed using SAS, and a P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Twelve consecutive patients undergoing endoscopic procedures at our institution were enrolled. Four patients were excluded due to incomplete data, inadequate data, patient cooperation, and capnography failure. Overall, we found that LRMD RR highly correlated to capnography RR (P < 0.001); the average capnography RR increases by 0.66 breaths for every one additional breath measured by the LRMD. In addition, apnea rates were 7.4% for the capnography and 6.4% for the LRMD (95% confidence interval: 0.92-1.10). CONCLUSION: The LRMD correlated with the gold standard capnography with respect to respiratory rate detection and apnea events. The LRMD could be used as an alternative to capnography for measuring respiration in endoscopy.