CONTACTLESS vital sign monitoring using a radar-based system demonstrated high accuracy for continuous respiratory rate monitoring and heart rate monitoring in both clinical and simulated care environments, according to a recent validation study.
Researchers found strong agreement between contactless measurements and reference standards, supporting the potential use of this technology in post-acute and long-term care settings.
The study assessed a contactless radar system designed to continuously measure respiratory rate and heart rate without attaching sensors to patients.
In the clinical evaluation, researchers enrolled 45 patients from skilled nursing and long-term care facilities.
Measurements obtained by the radar system were compared with reference respiratory rate data from carbon dioxide capnography and heart rate data from electrocardiography.
Participants ranged in age from 28 to 93 years and included patients with a variety of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
The system recorded respiratory rate and heart rate continuously while patients remained at rest in bed during 10-minute monitoring sessions.
Analysis showed high agreement between contactless and reference measurements.
The system achieved monitoring success rates of 93.6% for respiratory rate and 89.6% for heart rate.
Accuracy rates within ±2 breaths or beats per minute were 89.2% for respiratory rate and 88.6% for heart rate.
Accuracy within ±5 breaths or beats per minute reached 99.8% for respiratory rate and 95.1% for heart rate.
Researchers also reported minimal proportional bias across the measurement range.
A separate simulated use study involving 17 healthy volunteers examined performance under different care related scenarios, including varying distances, blanket coverage, side lying positions, bedside activity, motion, and absence from bed.
Under stationary conditions, respiratory rate accuracy exceeded 96.3% within ±5 breaths per minute, while heart rate accuracy exceeded 90.6% within ±5 beats per minute.
Importantly, the system produced no respiratory rate or heart rate outputs during conditions involving participant absence or substantial motion.
Researchers noted that withholding measurements when signal quality was insufficient could help reduce the risk of inaccurate vital sign reporting in real world care environments.
The authors concluded that contactless vital sign monitoring provided accurate and reliable continuous assessment of respiratory rate and heart rate while appropriately managing challenging monitoring conditions.
They suggested that the technology may enhance patient surveillance and support earlier identification of clinical deterioration in post-acute and long-term care settings.
Reference
Sharma P et al. Validation of a contactless radar system for continuous respiratory rate and heart rate monitoring in clinical and simulated use conditions. Sci Rep. 2026;DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-71527-w.
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