Novel wearable and contactless monitoring devices to identify deteriorating patients in the clinical setting: a systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND: With technological advances, there has been increasing interest in developing contactless and/or non-invasive wearable technologies that continuously monitor vital signs in the clinical setting, and in particular in the deteriorating patient. These devices as of yet have not been well validated in the clinical setting in the clinical ranges observed in a critically unwell patient. We will perform a systematic review of all novel wearable and contactless devices in the clinical setting with focus on degree of novelty and the range of vital signs captured. METHODS: Ovid MEDLINE including Epub Ahead of Print and In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database (Ovid), CINAHL with Full Text, searches of the grey literature, cited references of eligible studies through Web of Science, and reference lists of eligible studies will be searched. Outcomes of interest will include the quality of studies in relation to reporting guidelines, limitations of non-invasive technology, and application in different clinical populations. We will perform a qualitative assessment of the novelty of the device and discuss its validation in deteriorating patients. DISCUSSION: While novel monitoring devices are often proposed as a solution to problems with infection, discomfort, and frequency of monitoring in the clinical setting it has not yet been established which devices have been validated in clinical settings in the pathological ranges of vital signs that reflect patient deterioration. It is equally unclear what additional value these devices might provide. This systematic review will synthesize published data regarding devices that have been tested and validated in patients AND in a clinical setting AND in reference ranges that reflect severe illness. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019130091