Feasibility and acceptability of a novel forehead-mounted wireless heart rate monitoring device in preterm infants: a prospective multicenter observational cohort study

Background: Wireless monitoring technologies may offer practical advantages over conventional monitoring approaches in neonatal care. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a wireless heart rate monitoring device in preterm infants across different neonatal clinical settings. Methods: Between January 2022 and August 2023, we prospectively evaluated the SurePulse VS wireless heart rate monitoring device (SurePulse Medical Ltd, Nottingham, UK) in 62 preterm infants at birth and during postnatal care in two UK tertiary neonatal intensive care units. Staff completed structured questionnaires assessing the device feasibility and acceptability in this preterm population. Downloaded device data were analyzed as exploratory operational metrics and compared with contemporaneously collected staff assessments of signal availability and heart rate acquisition time. Results: Staff reported device cap fitting as “Easy” or “Very Easy” in 88% (45/51) of deployments. Heart rate visibility was reported as available for “All” or “Most” of the monitoring period in 82% (42/51) of cases, and heart rate acquisition within 60 s was reported in 69% (35/51) of cases. Downloaded data were available for 51 infants and provided exploratory operational measures of signal availability and acquisition time that broadly aligned with staff-reported assessments. Conclusions: The SurePulse VS device demonstrated a high level of feasibility and acceptability among clinical staff across a range of neonatal care settings. These findings support the feasibility of wireless heart rate monitoring in preterm infants and provide insight into practical considerations and challenges for implementation in routine clinical care.