Using Multisensory Haptic Integration to Improve Monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit

Alarm fatigue and medical alarm mismanagement reduces the quality of patient care and creates stressful work environments for clinicians. Here, the feasibility of a novel “pre-alarm” system that utilizes multisensory integration of auditory and haptic stimuli is examined as a possible solution. Three vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygenation) were represented by three musically distinct sounds that were combined into soundscapes and progressed through five pre-alarm zones (very low to very high). Three haptic conditions were tested with the auditory stimulus to determine the best combination of auditory and haptic stimulation. Qualitative data was collected through surveys and the NASA TLX index. Alterations in frequency and timbre were most effective at transmitting information regarding changing vital sign zones with comparatively higher accuracy and quicker reaction time (RT), <i>p</i> p p The current study demonstrates that multisensory signals do not diminish the perception of transmitted information and suggest efficient training benefits over unimodal signals. Multisensory training may be beneficial over time compared to unisensory training due to a stronger consolidation effect. The potential integration of haptic input with existing auditory alarm systems and training is supported.