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| Pulse Oximeter |
A pulse oximeter is a small device that can measure the oxygen saturation in your blood.- It is an easy, painless measure of how well oxygen is being sent to parts of your body furthest from your heart, such as the arms and legs.
- Purpose and uses
- 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:
- ~ Asthma
- ~ Pneumonia
- ~ Lung Cancer
- ~ Anemia
- ~ Heart Attack
- ~ Congenital Heart Failure
- ~ COPD
- There are a number of different common use cases for pulse oximetry, including:
- ~ To assess how well a new lung medication is working
- ~ To evaluate whether someone needs help breathing
- ~ To evaluate how helpful a ventilator is
- ~ To monitor oxygen levels during or after surgical procedures that require sedation
- ~ To determine how effective supplemental oxygen therapy is, especially when treatment is new
- ~ To assess someone’s ability to tolerate increased physical activity
- ~ To evaluate whether someone momentarily stops breathing while sleeping — like in cases of sleep apnea — during a sleep study
- How it works
- During a Pulse Oximeter 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.
- Procedure Steps
- Most commonly, a clip-like device will be placed on your finger, earlobe or toe.
- You may feel a small amount of pressure, but there is no pain or pinching.
- In some cases, a small probe may be placed on your finger or forehead with a sticky adhesive.
- You may be asked to remove your fingernail polish if it's being attached to a finger.
- You'll keep the probe on for as long as needed to monitor your Pulse and Oxygen saturation.
- When monitoring physical activity capabilities, this will be during the extent of the exercise and during the recovery period.
- During surgery, the probe will be attached before hand and removed once you're awake and no longer under supervision.
- Sometimes, it will only be used to take a single reading very quickly.
- Once the test is over, the clip or probe will be removed.
- Pulse Oximeter Readings
- Pulse Oximeter is typically a fairy accurate test.
- This is especially true when using high quality equipment found in most medical offices or hospital settings.
- 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.
Once the test is over, your care provider will have the readings available immediately. This will help them determine if other testing or treatment is necessary. If you’re evaluating how successful your oxygen supplementation therapy is, for example, a reading that’s still on the low side might indicate the need for more oxygen.
DR VAKU® Swadesi Pulse Oximeter Fingertip, Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor Fingertip, Blood Oxygen Meter Finger Oximeter Finger with Pulse, O2 Monitor Finger for Oxygen
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