Evaluation of a Wearable Device for Cardiorespiratory Monitoring in Healthy Anaesthetised Cats
ABSTRACT Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and agreement of heart rate (HR) and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurements obtained using the wearable Owlet Smart Sock (OSS) in anaesthetised cats, compared with a reference veterinary bedside monitor (Monitor 1). Methods Twenty healthy cats aged 1–2 years and weighing 3.2 and 5.1 kg were enrolled. All animals underwent a standardised general anaesthesia protocol. HR and SpO2 were recorded simultaneously using the OSS and Monitor 1 at 1‐minute intervals for 20 min. A total of 307 paired measurements were analysed. Agreement was assessed using Bland–Altman analysis and clinical equivalence was evaluated using the two one‐sided tests (TOST) procedure, with predefined equivalence margins of ±10 bpm for HR and ±3% for SpO2. Results A very strong correlation was observed between OSS and Monitor 1 for HR measurements (r = 0.995; p < 0.0001). The mean difference was 0.18 bpm (95% CI: −0.38–0.40), demonstrating clinical equivalence (p < 0.0001). For SpO2 measurements, a statistically significant linear correlation was identified (r = 0.634; p < 0.0001). The mean difference was ‐0.5% (95% CI: −0.74 to −0.29), remaining within the predefined ±3% equivalence margin and indicating clinical equivalence (p < 0.0001). Conclusion In healthy cats, the OSS demonstrated high agreement with the reference monitor for HR measurements and provided clinically acceptable SpO2 values within established equivalence limits. Further validation under diverse clinical conditions and in different patient populations is warranted.