Observation

Overview

The Observation resource represents measurements and simple assertions made about a patient. This includes vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, temperature), lab results (blood glucose), and device-collected data (SpO2, weight).

API Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/monitoreds/{id}/observations/	List observations for a patient
POST	/api/monitoreds/{id}/observations/	Create observations
GET	/api/observations/{id}/	Get observation details

Data Model

Field	Type	Description
id	integer	Unique identifier
observation_definition	object	Type and method of observation
category	string	Category (e.g., physiological_data)
value	string	Measured value
value_type	string	Data type (float, int, etc.)
value_unit	string	Unit of measurement (bpm, celsius, mmHg, etc.)
issued	datetime	When the observation was issued
effective_datetime	datetime	When the measurement was taken
source_id	integer	Source device identifier

Example

{
  "id": 810,
  "observation_definition": {
    "observation_name": "heart_rate",
    "observation_method": "device"
  },
  "category": "physiological_data",
  "value": "72",
  "value_type": "int",
  "value_unit": "bpm",
  "issued": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "effective_datetime": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "source_id": 1
}

Observation Types

Name	Unit	Description
heart_rate	bpm	Heart rate
blood_pressure_systolic	mmHg	Systolic blood pressure
blood_pressure_diastolic	mmHg	Diastolic blood pressure
temperature	celsius	Body temperature
oxygen_saturation	percentage	SpO2
weight	kg	Body weight
blood_glucose	mg/dL	Blood glucose level
respiratory_rate	breaths/min	Respiratory rate

SDK v2 Typed Observations

When using the vitalera SDK v2, observations are returned as typed classes rather than generic JSON. This provides compile-time safety and auto-completion in your IDE.

API observation_name	SDK v2 Typed Class	Key Fields
heart_rate	HeartRateObservation	heartRate (bpm)
blood_pressure_systolic / blood_pressure_diastolic	BloodPressureObservation	systolic, diastolic (mmHg), pulseRate (bpm)
temperature	TemperatureObservation	temperature (celsius)
oxygen_saturation	OxygenSaturationObservation	spo2 (%)
weight	WeightObservation	weight (kg)
blood_glucose	BloodGlucoseObservation	glucose (mg/dL)
respiratory_rate	RespiratoryRateObservation	respiratoryRate (breaths/min)

Example (Kotlin):

device.collect().collect { observation ->
    when (observation) {
        is BloodPressureObservation ->
            println("BP: ${observation.systolic}/${observation.diastolic} mmHg")
        is HeartRateObservation ->
            println("HR: ${observation.heartRate} bpm")
        is OxygenSaturationObservation ->
            println("SpO2: ${observation.spo2}%")
    }
}

Example (Swift):

for try await observation in device.collect() {
    if let bp = observation as? BloodPressureObservation {
        print("BP: \(bp.systolic)/\(bp.diastolic) mmHg")
    } else if let hr = observation as? HeartRateObservation {
        print("HR: \(hr.heartRate) bpm")
    } else if let spo2 = observation as? OxygenSaturationObservation {
        print("SpO2: \(spo2.spo2)%")
    }
}

For the full list of 30+ typed observation classes, see the SDK Overview.

Related Resources

• Patient - The patient this observation belongs to
• CarePlan - The care plan context