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Can Remote Photoplethysmography Be Used for Contactless Vital Sign Acquisition in a Healthcare Setting? A Prospective Comparative Study.

Can Remote Photoplethysmography Be Used for Contactless Vital Sign Acquisition in a Healthcare Setting? A Prospective Comparative Study.

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04489407
Enrollment
350
Registered
2020-07-28
Start date
2020-08-01
Completion date
2020-11-30
Last updated
2020-07-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cardiac Disease, Coronavirus, Respiratory Disease, Vascular Diseases

Keywords

oximetry, pulse oximetry, respiratory rate, remote photoplethysmography, coronavirus

Brief summary

Contactless and widely available health monitoring technologies are of growing interest in the context of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) is a well-studied technology that interprets variations in skin colour related to blood flow which, when analysed with complex mathematical algorithm, generates vital sign readings. This technology has been refined and embedded in a smartphone app designed to acquire heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation using a front-facing smartphone camera. Preliminary data comparing the accuracy of smartphone rPPG readings with conventional vital sign monitor readings are promising; however, less than 5% of the population studied in the app development phase had oxygen saturation levels below 95% making it impossible to ensure reliability in these populations. The goal of this study is to compare readings acquired using this rPPG app with the readings from hospital grade, Health Canada approved vital signs monitors used in healthcare settings with a focus on subject with low oxygen saturations. We will also study other sociodemographic and clinical features that may influence the accuracy of the readings. This will be achieved by recruiting consenting adults presenting to care in acute care settings and a designated COVID outpatient clinic. Vital signs will be acquired using the rPPG app and conventional hospital vital sign monitors simultaneously. Readings will be repeated within 2-5 minutes when time permits. Statistical analysis will be performed to analyze the findings and determine the accuracy and precision of the rPPG app readings. It is expected that the vital sign readings acquired with the rPPG app will be almost identical to those acquired using hospital-grade monitors for all subjects regardless of age, gender, skin colour, COVID status and relevant comorbidities.

Interventions

DEVICERemote Photoplethysmography (rPPG) vital sign acquisition

Subject vital signs will be acquired using the rPPG app simultaneously with the conventional vital sign monitors and manual respiratory rate calculation.

Sponsors

Carebook Technologies Inc.
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
Lady Davis Institute
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Subjects enrolled in the study will be undergoing vital sign monitoring with the rPPG vital sign monitoring app and the conventional vital sign monitor. Readings with each vital sign monitoring technology will be taken simultaneously on all enrolled subjects.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Persons willing to participate and capable of providing informed consent, age of 18 years of more. * Person able to sit still for the duration of the reading (maximum 2 minutes per reading). * Persons with freckles, discreet skin pigmentation changes

Exclusion criteria

* Unable to provide informed consent * Persons who are unable to follow basic instructions due to altered mental status, delirium, dementia or other conditions. * Age \< 18 * Intubated patients and patients requiring masks for supplemental oxygen * Persons refusing to remove masks, eyewear, or clothing obstructing the face for the duration of readings. * Persons with facial tattoos, large birthmarks or other skin alterations (scars, hemangiomas) on their nose or upper cheeks (cheekbones).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Accuracy of rPPG heart rateimmediate; paired readingAccuracy of rPPG heart rate compared to conventional vital sign monitor heart rate readings. Comparison of each paired reading.
Accuracy of rPPG respiratory rateimmediate; paired readingAccuracy of rPPG respiratory rate compared to manual counting of respiratory rate over 60 seconds. Comparison of discrepancy within each paired reading set.
Accuracy of rPPG oxygen saturationimmediate; paired readingAccuracy of rPPG oxygen saturation compared to conventional vital sign monitor oxygen saturation readings. Comparison of discrepancy within each paired reading set.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Reproducibility of rPPG heart rate readings2-5 minutesComparison of rPPG heart rate results obtained on a given patient on serial readings within 2 minutes of each other.
Reproducibility of rPPG oxygen saturation readings2-5 minutesComparison of rPPG oxygen saturation results obtained on a given patient on serial readings within 2 minutes of each other.
Reproducibility of rPPG respiratory rate readings2-5 minutesComparison of rPPG respiratory rate results obtained on a given patient on serial readings within 2 minutes of each other.

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Accuracy of rPPG readings by genderimmediate; stratified analysisAnalysis of accuracy of rPPG vital sign readings when stratified for gender
Accuracy of rPPG readings by skin colourimmediate; stratified analysisAnalysis of accuracy of rPPG vital sign readings when stratified by skin colour per the Fitzpatrick scale
Accuracy of rPPG readings by ageimmediate; stratified analysisAnalysis of accuracy of rPPG vital sign readings when stratified by age group
Accuracy of rPPG readings by comorbidityimmediate; stratified analysisAnalysis of accuracy of rPPG vital sign readings when stratified for COVID, respiratory conditions, cardiac conditions and vascular conditions.
Accuracy of rPPG readings by oxygen saturation levelimmediate; stratified analysisAnalysis of accuracy of rPPG vital sign readings when stratified by oxygen saturation per conventional monitors stratified as follows: 95-100%; 90-94%; 85-89%; Less than 85%

Contacts

Primary ContactNoura Hassan, MD, MPH
noura.hassan@mcgill.ca514-340-8222

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026