New Study Finds Continuously Monitoring Newborns with Tetherless Masimo Pulse Oximetry Is Feasible, Practical, and May Help Catch Pathological Events in the First 24 Hours of Life
In a new study published in Frontiers in Digital Health, clinicians at three hospitals in Piedmont, Italy successfully used tetherless Masimo Radius PPG® pulse oximetry sensors to continuously monitor more than 2,200 newborn babies. The monitoring did not interfere with mother-child interactions or newborn care practices—but did help clinicians identify 40 pathological events that might otherwise have gone undetected.1
The researchers’ objective was to assess the feasibility and acceptance of tetherless, or wireless, wearable sensors for continuous cardiopulmonary monitoring during the first 24 hours of life, as a potential aid in helping clinicians prevent Sudden Unexpected Postnatal Collapse (SUPC). SUPC is a condition in which sudden cardiovascular and respiratory impairment in newborns requires prompt intervention to prevent death, and in which there has been a recent rise in reported cases. Because traditional continuous pulse oximetry monitoring, with its requirement that the patient remain constantly tethered to a monitor, can interfere with key standards of newborn care—such as skin-to-skin contact with the mother and breastfeeding—the authors hoped to find that tetherless monitoring might help reduce or prevent SUPC incidents without that drawback, providing a “proof-of-concept innovative digital approach to intercept[ing] SUPCs as soon as possible.”
Over the preliminary study period of June 2023 to December 2024, clinicians monitored 2,250 newborns’ heart rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), and perfusion index immediately after birth using Masimo SET® Radius PPG tetherless pulse oximetry, with data being relayed to centralized Masimo Patient SafetyNet™* view stations for remote supplemental monitoring. The researchers found that Masimo continuous tetherless monitoring did not disrupt care during the skin-to-skin period—and it helped clinicians detect 40 pathological events, including:
- 2 cases of SUPC, in which the newborns were successfully resuscitated, with no long-term neurological consequences.
- 3 cases of oxygen desaturation (1 linked to early-onset sepsis and 1 linked to cerebral hemorrhage).
- 35 cases of bradycardia, or slow heart rate (5 linked to early-onset sepsis).
The researchers concluded that Masimo monitoring “did not have any impact on the early mother-child interaction but rather, it guaranteed serenity and the possibility of rest”—in other words, they found the combination of Masimo Radius PPG with SET® pulse oximetry and Patient SafetyNet to be feasible and well accepted.
Study limitations included equipment cost and the staffing needs associated with response to alarms/alerts and educating parents. The newborns studied were all term or late preterm (not severe preterm) infants, due to the lack of a NICU at the hospital sites.
* The use of the trademark Patient SafetyNet is under license from University HealthSystem Consortium.
1 Berger M et al. Prevention of sudden unexpected postnatal collapse in wellbeing newborns by remote digital health technologies. Front. Digit. Health. 19 Sept 2025. 7:1598541.doi:10.3389/fdgth.2025.1598541
