Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

Sickbay Vital Signs Monitor Array

A bedside array of clinical monitors and displays that hover above the biobeds, projecting waveform traces, numeric vitals, and status lights in a cool, clinical glow. Crew members glance to the panels as revived patients breathe, spike, and collapse; alarms click and displays stutter under rapid physiological change.
11 appearances

Purpose

To continuously display and track patient vital signs, waveform data, and equipment status at the bedside to support real-time clinical assessment and urgent triage.

Significance

The monitors translate physiological uncertainty into objective data, forcing command and medical staff to recognize the revived cryonics subjects as living patients; their alarms and fluctuating traces convert an ethical debate into an immediate medical crisis.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

11 moments
S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Endorphins Feed the Vine — Pulaski Reprograms the Stimulator

The Sickbay Vital Signs Monitor Array functions as the diagnostic anchor Pulaski moves away from; its readouts presumably provided the empirical correlation between memory stimulation and organism growth that triggers the affect-driven hypothesis and the decision to change stimulation patterns.

Before: Online at the patient's bedside, displaying waveform traces and vital signs, being observed by medical staff.
After: Continuing to monitor; likely reflecting changes as the neural stimulator is reprogrammed and activated.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Repellent Frequency Test — Pulaski Reprograms the Stimulator

The Sickbay Vital Signs Monitor Array anchors the clinical reading that provokes Pulaski's line of thought; she moves from the monitor to Troi's side after interpreting its data, so the array functions as diagnostic stimulus and ongoing status relay while the experiment proceeds.

Before: Active and displaying waveforms, numeric vitals, and alarm tones that indicate the patient's unstable condition.
After: Continuing to display vital signs and respond to the neural stimulation change; remains the primary readout for clinicians to observe effects.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Clamp and Surge: Riker's Mind Unravels

The bedside vital signs monitor provides real‑time EEG and waveform traces that Pulaski uses to judge the effect of induced neural stimulation; its stuttering, climbing alarms and erratic traces are the primary evidence that the procedure is both working and dangerously destabilizing Riker's brain activity.

Before: Active and displaying baseline and invasive stimulation waveforms; online and monitored by medical staff.
After: Continuing to display erratic, high‑amplitude waveforms and alarm activity, documenting destabilized neural responses to stimulation.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Clamping Riker: Inducing REM to Stall the Infection

The bedside vital signs monitor displays chaotic waveforms that initially indicate irregular neural activity; Pulaski studies these readouts to tune the stimulator and uses the display to confirm a vertex K-complex and transition into REM, making the monitor the evidentiary center of the procedure.

Before: Active and alarming, displaying irregular, unstable EEG/respiratory traces and escalating chirps.
After: Shows steadier wave patterns with a distinct vertex/K-complex signature and calmer vitals, providing visual confirmation of the temporary stabilization.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Sadness Stalls the Infection

The bedside vital-signs monitor displays Riker's nervous-system readout and the microbial highlight; its subtle dimming is the empirical signal that the organisms' growth has slowed, guiding Pulaski's and Troi's tactical decisions and providing the immediate evidence for emotion-based treatment.

Before: Actively displaying heightened neural activity and strong microbial highlight indicating rapid organism growth; alarm tones/animated traces present.
After: Highlighting has dimmed; growth-rate indicators show measurable slowing while numeric vitals trend weaker, informing Pulaski's decision to alter stimulation rather than give more drug.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Targeting Pain: Isolating Sadness to Starve the Microbe

The bedside vital signs/neurological monitor displays a highlighted readout of Riker's nervous system; its subtle dimming provides the first empirical evidence that the organism's growth rate has slowed. The panel drives Pulaski's decision to alter stimulation parameters and confirms Troi's empathic read.

Before: Active, showing bright highlights indicating robust organism activity across Riker's nervous system.
After: The highlight has dimmed slightly, signaling reduced growth rate; continues to monitor declining vital signs and influence treatment choices.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Endorphin Leverage

The bedside vital signs monitor array provides real-time HR, respiration, and EEG-like traces; its deteriorating readouts constrain Pulaski's choices, showing that while stimulation slows the organism, it also drives Riker's vitals toward collapse.

Before: Active above the biobed, showing low and erratic vital signs with alarming trends.
After: Remains active and worsening, the audible and visual countdown reinforcing urgency as Pulaski prepares more aggressive stimulation.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Half‑Hour Memory Protocol

The bedside vital signs monitor provides erratic heart and respiration traces and numerical vitals that Pulaski reads aloud; the deteriorating readings create the time pressure and clinical justification for escalating the neural stimulation.

Before: Showing low and erratic vital signs, indicating Riker's weakening condition and instability.
After: Readouts are reported as deteriorating further; they are the metric that enforces Pulaski's half‑hour ultimatum.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Last-Resort Neural Shock

The bedside vital signs monitor provides the real‑time diagnostic readout that drives decision‑making: it displays shallow respiration, irregular heartbeat and the rapid deterioration that compels Pulaski to act. Its alarms and traces contextualize the risk and mark the physiological consequences of the procedure when Riker grows rigid.

Before: Displaying critical but still interpretable vitals: respiration shallow, heartbeat irregular; active and alarming, watched closely by Pulaski and Troi.
After: Continuing to register collapsing vitals and showing the mechanical rigidity and electrical interference caused by the applied current; remains the objective record of physiological response.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Fragile Stabilization — Tricordrazine Injection

The bedside vital signs monitor array broadcasts Riker's erratic respiration, pulse and blood pressure; after Pulaski injects Tricordrazine the monitor shows modest improvement, guiding the team to continue escalation rather than stand down.

Before: Suspended above the biobed, actively projecting spiking waveform traces and alarm tones indicating instability.
After: Still active; waveform traces and numeric vitals show some improvement but remain unstable, informing further stimulation adjustments.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Escalation: Tighten the Pattern

The bedside vital signs monitor array provides real‑time waveforms and numeric vitals that drive Pulaski's clinical decisions: erratic respiration, irregular pulse, and near‑nil blood pressure compel immediate drug administration and later inform her risky decision to raise stimulator current.

Before: Active above the biobed, flashing unstable respiratory and cardiac traces; alarming intermittently.
After: Shows transient improvement after Tricordrazine but remains unstable, prompting further escalation.
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