Human-centered visualization technologies for patient monitoring are the future: a narrative review

Abstract

Medical technology innovation has improved patient monitoring in perioperative and intensive care medicine and continuous improvement in the technology is now a central focus in this field. Because data density increases with the number of parameters captured by patient-monitoring devices, its interpretation has become more challenging. Therefore, it is necessary to support clinicians in managing information overload while improving their awareness and understanding about the patient’s health status. Patient monitoring has almost exclusively operated on the single-sensor–single-indicator principle—a technology-centered way of presenting data in which specific parameters are measured and displayed individually as separate numbers and waves. An alternative is user-centered medical visualization technology, which integrates multiple pieces of information (e.g., vital signs), derived from multiple sensors into a single indicator—an avatar-based visualization—that is a meaningful representation of the real-world situation. Data are presented as changing shapes, colors, and animation frequencies, which can be perceived, integrated, and interpreted much more efficiently than other formats (e.g., numbers). The beneficial effects of these technologies have been confirmed in computer-based simulation studies; visualization technologies improved clinicians’ situation awareness by helping them effectively perceive and verbalize the underlying medical issue, while improving diagnostic confidence and reducing workload. This review presents an overview of the scientific results and the evidence for the validity of these technologies.

Qualitative Exploration of Anesthesia Providers’ Perceptions Regarding Philips Visual Patient Avatar in Clinical Practice

“…Another technology that aligns with these principles is Philips Visual Patient Avatar-a user-centered visualization technology designed with a focus on enhancing situation awareness in patient monitoring [19]. It employs colors, shapes, and animations in the form of an avatar to convey vital-sign information (Figure 1) [20]. Several studies have shown the beneficial effects of the situation awareness-enhancing technology by enabling clinicians to better understand and communicate underlying medical issues compared to traditional monitoring methods [20][21][22].…”

“…It employs colors, shapes, and animations in the form of an avatar to convey vital-sign information (Figure 1) [20]. Several studies have shown the beneficial effects of the situation awareness-enhancing technology by enabling clinicians to better understand and communicate underlying medical issues compared to traditional monitoring methods [20][21][22]. Furthermore, the Visual Patient Avatar has been proven to enhance diagnostic confidence and reduce perceived workload [20,22].…”

“…Several studies have shown the beneficial effects of the situation awareness-enhancing technology by enabling clinicians to better understand and communicate underlying medical issues compared to traditional monitoring methods [20][21][22]. Furthermore, the Visual Patient Avatar has been proven to enhance diagnostic confidence and reduce perceived workload [20,22]. The benefits of this novel visualization technique can be attributed to the design of the technology, which combines different parameters from multiple sensors into a single indicator, enabling healthcare providers to assess the full spectrum of vital signs simultaneously.…”

“…A detailed comparative list of vital parameters presented by conventional monitoring and their respective visualized counterparts by the Visual Patient Avatar can be found in Appendix A (Table A1). While the functionality and user perceptions of the Visual Patient Avatar have been extensively investigated in various computer-based and high-fidelity simulation studies [20][21][22], the recent introduction of this technology into clinical settings has prompted the need to investigate its real-world application. This study makes a significant contribution While the functionality and user perceptions of the Visual Patient Avatar have been extensively investigated in various computer-based and high-fidelity simulation studies [20][21][22], the recent introduction of this technology into clinical settings has prompted the need to investigate its real-world application.…”

“…While the functionality and user perceptions of the Visual Patient Avatar have been extensively investigated in various computer-based and high-fidelity simulation studies [20][21][22], the recent introduction of this technology into clinical settings has prompted the need to investigate its real-world application. This study makes a significant contribution While the functionality and user perceptions of the Visual Patient Avatar have been extensively investigated in various computer-based and high-fidelity simulation studies [20][21][22], the recent introduction of this technology into clinical settings has prompted the need to investigate its real-world application. This study makes a significant contribution by being the first to investigate user perceptions of the Visual Patient Avatar technology in adult anesthesia within real clinical settings.…”