Patient Monitors- http://cardiologyforless.com/Vital-Sign-Monitors/

We first began to use patient monitors in the 1950s. These machines are an easy way for doctors and nurses to into the vital signs of patients. These machines provides critical information on the health and welfare of patients in the hospital. The technology used in patient monitors has come a long way since the 1950sw and today a patient can even be monitored at home by the hospital to see how the patient is progressing once they leave the care of the hospital.

History

The initial monitors were crude by today’s standards and they had monochrome displays which monitored the patient’s heart rate and could alert the hospital staff to any changes in the patient’s status at the hospital. These monitors could be connected to an electrocardiograph for printing of the results and these monitors stayed about the same until they changed in the 1960s and became more advanced.

In the 1970s we began to use digital electronics for these machines and this made reading the data easier. These machines could also provide arrhythmia analysis and then in the 1980s this analysis could be done at the bedside and the machines became computerized as technology advanced rapidly. In the 1980s color was introduces as well to distinguish various readouts.

In the 1990s these machines were being connected to other machines such as ventilators as well as many other pieces of equipment to monitor patients. These monitors in the 1990s also became smaller and there were models that were transportable. Today we have models that can be worn by patients when they go home to keep track of various health readings. An example of this is the heart monitor which the patient can wear and the hospital can track various data from the monitor to see the data to day behaviors of a person’s heart to diagnose problems with the heart. This monitoring can be done in real time

Types of Monitors

There are many types of patient monitors such as:

·        Handhelds – These can be used by hand to monitor the status of a patient. These are very small devices.

·        Portable – these are easy to transport around and may be worn by patients so the hospital can see their vital signs at all times. Hey may wear these once they leave the hospital and go home.

·        Monitor/Defibrillator ­– These are usually portable and they allow a medical person such as paramedic revive a person that has had a heart attack.

·        Tabletop ­– These are larger monitors but they can also be portable if this is required.

·        Networkable/ Non-Networkable – These allow for reading to be sent to a station where several monitors are watched at the same time.

·        Wired/Wireless Data Transmission – These allow the monitor data to be transmitted wirelessly to a central location. This allows the data of a patient to be transferred with ease.

There are many types of monitor and these devices provide the hospital doctors and nurses with the data they need to look after patients so they get the best possible care when they are in the hospital and sometimes when they leave the hospital as well.