Medical monitor

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Medical monitor as used in anesthesia

A medical monitor is an automated medical electronic device that measures a patient's vital signs and displays the data so obtained, which may or may not be transmitted on a monitoring network.

Monitors may be classified as

Handheld
Portable
Tabletop
Networkable / non-networkable
Mains powered or mains + battery powered

In critical care units of hospitals, it allows continuous monitoring of a patient, with medical staff being continuously informed of the changes in general condition of a patient.

Old patient monitors resembled oscilloscopes and computer monitors and use superficially similar technology. However, medical monitors have been safety engineered so that failures are either apparent or unimportant.^{[citation needed]}

Some monitors (for example ECG and EEG) have an electrical contact with the patient. There are strict limits on how much current and voltage can be applied, even if the unit fails or becomes wet.^{[citation needed]} They must typically withstand electrical defibrillation without damage.

In the past, medical monitors tended to be highly specialized. One monitor would track a patient's blood pressure, while another would measure pulse oximetry. Today the trend is toward multi-parameter monitors that can track many different vital signs at once.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

Health Science · Medicine · Medical specialities · Intensive care medicine / Critical care medicine and Critical care nursing

General terms

Intensive care unit (ICU) · Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) · Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) · Coronary care unit (CCU) · Critical illness insurance

Conditions

Organ system failure	Acute renal failure · Acute respiratory distress syndrome · Acute liver failure · Cardiogenic shock · Coma · Distributive shock · Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome · Polytrauma · Respiratory failure · Sepsis · Septic shock · Shock · Systemic inflammatory response syndrome

Complications	Critical illness polyneuropathy / myopathy · Critical illness–related corticosteroid insufficiency · Decubitus ulcers · Fungemia · Stress hyperglycemia · Stress ulcer

Iatrogenesis	Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus · Oxygen toxicity · Refeeding syndrome · Ventilator-associated lung injury · Ventilator-associated pneumonia