A less intrusive way to continuously monitor the temperature of our paediatric patients has been found to be just as accurate as using an ear thermometer.
The device, Temptraq®, uses a soft patch that sticks to the underarm of the child, continuously detects the body temperature, and transmits the readings to an app via Bluetooth. As long as the caregiver is within a 12-metre range of the thermometer, they can review the data and receive alerts for fevers.
Typically, a paediatric patient’s body temperature is regularly monitored by nurses using digital tympanic or ear thermometers on patients every four hours.
Sue Liu, a final-year medical student at Monash University, who conducted the study, says there are two issues with the current temperature monitoring method in hospitals.
“Nurses are very busy people, so it can be hard to take temperatures so regularly, reducing the availability of temperature data to clinicians.
“Patients also do not like being poked and prodded so frequently, particularly overnight.
“Some children do not tolerate digital tympanic thermometers as they may find it cold, uncomfortable or generally unpleasant,” she says.
Continuous wireless monitoring is proposed to overcome this issue as nurses no longer need to physically perform each measurement, and because the product is wireless, patients are not hooked up to cables, permitting freedom of movement.
Sue recruited 100 participants from Monash Children’s Hospital and conducted the trial from March to August of 2022.
The team found that Temptraq® is sufficiently accurate compared to the tympanic thermometers in use at MCH for clinical use.
“Survey feedback from patients and guardians found that they liked the convenience of it and the prospect of reduced disturbances from nurses to take temperature readings,” Sue says.
Consultant Paediatric Surgeon and Senior Lecturer at Monash University Dr Maurizio Pacilli, who is the supervisor of the project, says “the device needs some improvements before it can be introduced in a clinical setting, particularly in the younger children group”.
“But the idea is that one day, it can be integrated into the patient’s care and electronic medical record. We are liaising with the company to provide them with feedback from our study,” Dr Pacilli said.
Sue was awarded the Medical Student Prize at the 2023 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Victorian Scientific Research Awards for the project and is planning to submit the manuscript for publication in a scientific journal.