Qualitative and Quantitative Comparison of Wired vs Wireless Oximeters
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Qualitative and Quantitative Comparison of Wired and Wireless Oximetry Masimo probes for children on Long Term Ventilation and Tracheostomies monitored in the Community with oximetry devices.
IRAS ID
356645
Contact name
Hazel Evans
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Children in the community with complex medical conditions requiring technology such as tracheostomies or ventilator support are routinely monitored at home with oxygen saturation monitors. Currently the readings are taken via a probe which is attached to a monitor with a wire and mainly used to recognise events that cause a dip in oxygen levels requiring intervention or the need for extra oxygen delivery to the child. This study will compare a wireless probe for collecting information on oxygen saturations and transmitted via bluetooth technology to a monitor, with data collected by the current oximeter which collects data via a wired sensor. We will ask families to use both probes at the same time for a total of 4 days. We will compare the frequency and appropriateness of alarms alongside the baseline oxygen saturations. We will ask the family to respond to the standard wired oximeter in terms of intervention. We also plan to compare downloads of the wireless probe oxygen saturation data with data downloaded by the child’s existing oximeter. We want to understand whether the readings using the wireless and wired probes including alarms are the same. Through completion of a short questionnaire we want to understand the parents, carers and children's experiences of the wireless probes including the advantages and disadvantages. This will allow us to decide whether it would be helpful to include these probes in routine clinical management.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/NW/0084
Date of REC Opinion
2 Apr 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion