A Review of Wearable Sensor Patches for Patient Monitoring

Wearable sensor patches are potent tools for patient monitoring in hospital care, with a particular focus on the Emergency Department waiting areas. They can enhance patient safety by alerting healthcare professionals to abnormal changes in vital physiological signals. Wearable sensors have been shown to be useful in monitoring patients’ vital signs continuously and in real-time in emergency rooms. However, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed before they can be widely adopted in emergency rooms. Some of these challenges include sensor stability with minimized signal drift, on-body sensor reusability, and long-term continuous health monitoring. This paper reviews wearable sensor patches that have the potential for use in hospital patient monitoring, considering the key variables monitored in emergency rooms. Eligible patches must be wearable, present at least one approval (CE or FDA), and measure more than one physiological parameter.