User Perceptions of Avatar-Based Patient Monitoring for Intensive Care Units: An International Exploratory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study
Justyna Lunkiewicz,
Greta Gasciauskaite,
Tadzio Raoul Roche,
Samira Akbas,
Christoph B. Nöthiger,
Michael T. Ganter,
Patrick Meybohm,
Sebastian Hottenrott,
Kai Zacharowski,
Florian Jürgen Raimann,
Eva Rivas,
Manuel López-Baamonde,
Elisabeth Anna Beller,
David Werner Tscholl,
Lisa Bergauer
Affiliations
Justyna Lunkiewicz
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Greta Gasciauskaite
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Tadzio Raoul Roche
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Samira Akbas
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Christoph B. Nöthiger
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Michael T. Ganter
Institute of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Clinic Hirslanden Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
Patrick Meybohm
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, Emergency and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Wuerzburg, University of Wuerzburg, 97070 Wuerzburg, Germany
Sebastian Hottenrott
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, Emergency and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Wuerzburg, University of Wuerzburg, 97070 Wuerzburg, Germany
Kai Zacharowski
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60629 Frankfurt, Germany
Florian Jürgen Raimann
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60629 Frankfurt, Germany
Eva Rivas
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Manuel López-Baamonde
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Elisabeth Anna Beller
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
David Werner Tscholl
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Lisa Bergauer
Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Visual Patient Avatar ICU is an innovative approach to patient monitoring, enhancing the user’s situation awareness in intensive care settings. It dynamically displays the patient’s current vital signs using changes in color, shape, and animation. The technology can also indicate patient-inserted devices, such as arterial lines, central lines, and urinary catheters, along with their insertion locations. We conducted an international, multi-center study using a sequential qualitative-quantitative design to evaluate users’ perception of Visual Patient Avatar ICU among physicians and nurses. Twenty-five nurses and twenty-five physicians from the ICU participated in the structured interviews. Forty of them completed the online survey. Overall, ICU professionals expressed a positive outlook on Visual Patient Avatar ICU. They described Visual Patient Avatar ICU as a simple and intuitive tool that improved information retention and facilitated problem identification. However, a subset of participants expressed concerns about potential information overload and a sense of incompleteness due to missing exact numerical values. These findings provide valuable insights into user perceptions of Visual Patient Avatar ICU and encourage further technology development before clinical implementation.