Non-Contact Respiratory Rate Monitoring with raybaby in an NICU: An Observational Study

Objectives: This study aimed at evaluating the reliability of respiratory rate obtained by a non-contact technology with respect to a medically validated monitor among preterm babies. Design: This observational study compared the respiratory rates from raybaby’s non-contact technology and FDA approved Earlysense unit for the same instants of time through 760 hours of monitoring. 18 preterm babies in the NICU of a paediatric specialty hospital in India were considered for the study. The raybaby device was installed in front of the incubator and the contact-free FDA approved device was placed below the mattress of the incubator. The Respiratory Rate monitored was displayed on the device’s monitoring screen. Respiratory rates from both devices were compared to calculate the agreement between the values. Correlation, Accuracy, Hit Percentage and Fit Curves for the non-contact technology of raybaby with respect to the clinically certified device. Results: With 760 hours of monitoring, 37404 breathing instances were analysed. This yielded an accuracy of 98%. 95% of the data points fell within the +/- 5 units error range which is usually followed by medical devices. Conclusions: Raybaby uses a non-contact technology for monitoring Respiratory Rate. The average breathing rate observed was 33 to 43 breaths per minute, which falls within the breathing range of 30-60 breaths per minute. From the 37404 data points analysed, raybaby® establishes further proof for the breathing range and trend found in babies. The accuracy of non-contact technology for respiratory monitoring establishes great potential for making health monitoring less intrusive and efficient for use. This renders the technology as a hopeful tool for respiratory monitoring to deploy at observation units during the pandemic.