VitalStream and Google Glass

Stanford, California - During surgical procedures, awareness of a patient’s physiological condition is critical to their safety. Can the use of Google Glass, to stream a patient’s vital signs to the operating surgeon’s field of view, impact patient safety? To find out, Stanford University School of Medicine and VitalMedicals have collaborated on a new pilot study.

Excitingly, the randomized study, in which surgery residents carried out simulated procedures with and without VitalStream on Google Glass, provided preliminary evidence that the head-mounted display platform can be used in the clinical setting to enhance situational awareness and patient safety. 

During a simulated bronchoscopy, the experimental group recognized critical desaturation 8.8 seconds earlier than the control group. Similarly, during a thoracostomy tube placement the time to recognition of hypotension occurred 10.5 seconds earlier. VitalStream also dramatically reduced the need to look up at a traditional monitor, allowing greater focus on the patient.

A full paper will be published soon, and in the meantime, you can read the abstract here.

Source: Vital Medicals