Ohio-based digital health company Blue Spark Technologies has introduced a multi-sensor remote patient monitoring platform that is said to include one of the most ground-breaking contactless vital sign measurement sensors to date.

The VitalTraq platform includes remote photoplethysmography (rPPG). Using a 30 to 60-second selfie scan, patients, clinicians and researchers can collect digital measurements, including heart rate, heart-rate variability, blood pressure and respiratory rate vital signs in a single contactless patient experience.

Engineered to modernise continuous remote care for patients, VitalTraq (www.bluesparktechnologies.com/vitaltraq) integrates the concept of device and data to optimise high-quality, real-world data collection while reducing the burden for participants and physicians.

Patients experience convenient care by combining Blue Spark’s TempTraq core body temperature wearable sensor and contactless rPPG facial scanning in a single, easy-to-use mobile application. Using clinically validated rPPG technology, patients scan their faces for a reading that captures blood flow patterns and translates them into vital sign measurements in a single remote monitoring platform.

Combining the two technologies on a patient’s own device reduces the number of devices a patient needs while also reducing device distribution logistics on health care providers. The rPPG sensing is available on the VitalTraq platform under investigational use only.

“The VitalTraq platform is ideally suited to remote patient monitoring in clinical trials as well as applications such as post-surgical patient monitoring for complications such as sepsis,” said John Gannon, CEO of Blue Spark Technologies. “The growing need for decentralised clinical trials drives the need for wearable and non-contact vital sign monitoring platforms such as VitalTraq. Continuous temperature monitoring detects fevers earlier, transforming today’s vital sign monitoring standards and helping healthcare providers deliver better care using real-time vitals intelligence.”

The platform consists of iOS and Android mobile patient apps, the Hipaa-compliant VitalTraq Connect cloud service hosted on Google Cloud, and a web-based clinical remote monitoring dashboard. VitalTraq is being tested and adopted by healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.

“The elegance of the VitalTraq platform is intelligent for patients and providers,” said MaryAnne Rizk, Blue Spark advisory board member and executive member of the Forbes Tech Council (councils.forbes.com). “The decentralised care journey has been conveniently modernised with VitalTraq across the continuous care journey, triggering value across the ecosystem of clinical and consumer collaborators with access to real-world data of objective endpoints for evidence generation strategies. Patients can seamlessly manage their vital signs on demand, and healthcare providers and sponsors can access new digital endpoints, unlocking deeper insights into treatment responses. Critical insights can provide early intervention for patients’ safety and potentially achieve faster clinical trials with fewer participants.”

Blue Spark’s FDA-cleared TempTraq is a Bluetooth-enabled patch that monitors patients’ temperature continuously and alerts them to temperature rise events in real time. The patient mobile app also supports the collection of axillary temperature using Blue Spark’s single-use disposable TempTraq patch. Other vital sign monitoring devices can be supported on request.

Blue Spark (www.bluesparktechnologies.com) is based in Westlake, Ohio.