Monitoring Health Dictionary

Electronically driven equipment that will constantly monitor the physiological status of patients and the effects of medical intervention on that status. Such devices should relieve hospital sta? of time-consuming ‘human monitoring’ procedures and in some instances will enable patients to carry monitoring devices during their daily living activities. An example would be the regular assessment of blood-sugar concentration in subjects with DIABETES MELLITUS or the routine checking on the blood or tissue concentrations of administered drugs.... electronic monitoring devices

The reporting and tracking of adverse incidents by care providers.... incidence monitoring and reporting

The use of an instrument to record and/or listen to an unborn baby’s heartbeat during pregnancy and labour. Monitoring is carried out at intervals throughout pregnancy if tests indicate that the placenta is not functioning normally or if the baby’s growth is slow. During labour, monitoring can detect fetal distress, in which oxygen deprivation causes abnormality in the fetal heart-rate.

The simplest form of fetal heart monitoring involves the use of a special fetal stethoscope. Cardiotocography, a more sophisticated electronic version, makes a continuous paper recording of the heartbeat together with a recording of the uterine contractions. The heartbeat is picked up either externally by an ultrasound transducer strapped to the mother’s abdomen or, as an alternative during labour, internally by an electrode attached to the baby’s scalp that passes through the vagina and cervix.... fetal heart monitoring