Comparison of Video Photoplethysmography, Video Motion Analysis, and Passive Infrared Thermography against Traditional Contact Methods for Acquiring Vital Signs in Emergency Department Populations

Emergency Department (ED) patients’ vital signs (VS) were obtained concurrently with contact cardiorespiratory monitors (CM) and experimental methods for comparison: HR was measured with CM and video photoplethysmography (vPPG); RR with CM and video motion analysis (vMA); core and surface temperatures with rectal or temporal artery (TA) thermometry and passive infrared thermography (pIR) camera, respectively. Continuous 25-minute research video recordings were made with each subject alternating between focusing on the vPPG-vMA camera for 1 minute then resting for 5 minutes. 237 of 375 study-eligible ED patients were enrolled, 4 subjects withdrew and 13 subjects were withdrawn due to technical problems. Video data were collected from 220 subjects of whom 42.6% were female; mean ESI was 3±0.5 (range 2–4) and mean Fitzpatrick score was 2.0±1.4 (1–6). Of 204 subjects with usable video data (92.7% of collected sample), 198 had all video windows and 164 had full study data available; video data were able to be processed for 787 (80.0%) of 990 total video windows. CM datastreams successfully captured 701 (89.1%) HR CM and 554 (70.4%) RR CM for the 787 video samples; vPPG and vMA algorithms were able to extract 661 (84.0%) HR vPPG and 569 (72.3%) RR vMA measurements. Median HR CM was 75.6bpm (IQR1-3: 66.5–87.0bpm), median HR vPPG was 74.5bpm (66.7–84.4bpm), R = 0.86; median HR difference was 0.1bpm (-0.2–0.5bpm). Median RR CM was 18.5bpm (IQR1-3: 15.4–22.5bpm), median RR vMA was 18.5bpm (15.7–22.0bpm), R = 0.92; median RR difference was 0.0bpm (-0.5–0.4bpm). HR vPPG and RR vMA measurements would have resulted in ESI VS groupings matching those based on CM measurements for 591 (97.8%) of 604 patients and 444 (96.1%) of 462 patients with ESI data available, respectively. Median T CM was 97.8°F (IQR1-3: 97.3–98.3°F), median T pIR was 95.3°F (93.7–96.4°F), R = 0.47; median temperature difference was -2.6°F (-3.8 – -1.4°F). vPPG, MA, and pIR thermography successfully measured select vital signs concurrently with promising results in a live ED patient cohort study.