How Pulse Oximeter Works and How to Read it
Images courtesy of: How Equipment Works
The pulse oximeter uses a special type of light to see how much oxygen is in the red blood cells traveling through the blood vessels under your skin.
During a pulse oximetry reading, a small clamp-like device is placed on a finger, earlobe, or toe. Small beams of light pass through the blood in the finger, measuring the amount of oxygen. It does this by measuring changes of light absorption in oxygenated or deoxygenated blood. This is a painless process.
The pulse oximeter will thus be able to tell you your oxygen saturation levels along with your heart rate.
The purpose of pulse oximetry is to check how well your heart is pumping oxygen through your body.
It may be used to monitor the health of individuals with any type of condition that can affect blood oxygen levels, especially while they’re in the hospital. These conditions include:
✅chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
✅asthma
✅pneumonia
✅lung cancer
✅anemia
✅heart attack or heart failure
✅congenital heart defectsSource: Healthline
How to Read Pulse Oximeter Readings
Pulse oximetry is typically a fairly accurate test. This is especially true when using high-quality equipment found in most medical offices or hospital settings. It consistently provides results within a 2-percent difference either way of what it truly is. If your reading was 82 percent, for example, your true oxygen saturation level may be anywhere from 80 to 84 percent. However, the quality of the waveform and assessment of the individual must be considered. Factors such as movement, temperature, or nail polish can impact the accuracy.
Typically, more than 89 percent of your blood should be carrying oxygen. This is the oxygen saturation level needed to keep your cells — and your body — healthy. While having an oxygen saturation below this temporarily is not believed to cause damage, repeat or consistent instances of lowered oxygen saturation levels may be damaging.An oxygen saturation level of 95 percent is considered normal for most healthy individuals. A level of 92 percent indicates potential hypoxemia, or deficiency in oxygen reaching tissues in the body.
Source: Healthline
Features:
High Quality OLED display for easy read, 4 direction adjustable
Sleep monitoring up to 8 hours
Simultaneous display for testing value and bar-graph
Low-power consumption
Low battery voltage indicator
Auto power off: 8 seconds automatic shutdown
Very light: weight only 2.2 oz with 2 AAA alkaline batteries (batteries not included)
Fits every finger size
6,000 spot checks
Display Type: High Quality OLED
SpO2 Parameters
Measurement range: 70% – 99%
Resolution: ±1%
Accuracy: ±2% (70%-99%), unspecified (<70%)
Pulse Rate:
Measurement range: 30 BPM – 240 BPM
Resolution: ±1%
Accuracy: ±2bpm or +2% (select larger)
Low Perfusion ≤0.4%
Power: 2AAA 1.5 V alkaline battery (not included in package)
Supply voltage: 2.6-3.6V
Air Pressure: 70kPA – 106 kPa
Working Current: ≤ 30 mA
High Quality Pulse Oximeter review – Excellent quality + fast delivery (Oximeter arrived Orlando in two days). Very easy to use and read. With just a push of a button, you will have your oxygen saturation levels readout in about 6 seconds. Thank you store!