Video-based physiologic monitoring: promising applications for the ICU and beyond

Abstract

The vital signs—temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure—are indispensable in clinical decision-making. These metrics are widely used to identify physiologic decline and prompt investigation or intervention. Vital sign monitoring is particularly important in acute care settings, where patients are at higher risk and may require additional vigilance. Conventional contact-based devices, while widespread and generally reliable, can be inconvenient or disruptive to patients, families, and staff. Non-contact, video-based methods present a more flexible and information-dense alternative that may enable creative improvements to patient care. Still, these approaches are susceptible to several sources of bias and require rigorous clinical validation. A recent study by Jorge et al. demonstrates that video-based monitoring can reliably capture heart rate and respiratory rate and overcome many potential sources of bias in post-operative settings. This presents real-world evaluation of a practical, noninvasive, and continuous monitoring technology that had previously only been tested in controlled settings.