What is a pulse oximeter, and how does it work

If you've had surgery, ridden in an ambulance, or even visited a clinic, chances are a healthcare professional has used a pulse oximeter to help inform decisions about your care.

The small device keeps a low profile, but it revolutionized the patient experience when it launched in the 1980s.

A pulse oximeter measures oxygen saturation in a patient's blood.

Pulse oximeters are non-invasive devices that measure oxygen saturation in the blood. They're often clipped to a patient's finger or wrapped around a baby's toe, but they can also attach to the nose, earlobe, or forehead. And they are pervasive, said Jason Case, who leads research and development in the Acute Care and Monitoring business at Medtronic

"Think of it as every provider, every area of care, globally," he said. "This technology is really important."

History of pulse oximetry

Before pulse oximeters, doctors relied on blood draws and time-consuming lab work to measure the amount of oxygen in a patient's blood during surgery.

Things started to change in the 1930s and 1940s, when scientists began using different light wavelengths to measure oxygen saturation in tissue. Based on those principles, the first oxygen meters were used on pilots flying at high altitudes in World War II, when the dangers of hypoxia - or low levels of oxygen in the blood - were prevalent.

Pulse oximetry was formally developed in the 1970s and commercialized in 1983 as Nellcor^TM pulse oximetry, which today is a Medtronic device. By 1987, pulse oximetry was the standard of care for anesthesiology in general surgery in the U.S. Its popularity quickly spread from operating rooms to the rest of the hospital, moving into recovery rooms, intensive care units, and even consumer-grade options in drug stores.

'Transformative technology'

Dr. Sam Ajizian was a young physician when pulse oximeters were first introduced.

"It's kind of magical to be able to take something on the outside of the body and use it to measure how much oxygen is going to the tissue that's contained in the blood on the inside," said Ajizian, who previously worked as chief medical officer for the Acute Care & Monitoring operating unit at Medtronic.

Jason Case, VP, R&D Acute Care & Monitoring

The technology took the guesswork out of making care decisions for patients, he said. Previously, doctors relied on signs of distress, such as discoloration of the face and lips, or worsening cardiovascular signs. With pulse oximetry, doctors are notified of low oxygen levels early and can intervene to protect the patient much earlier, too.

AI in pulse oximetry?

While artificial intelligence isn't present in every pulse oximeter, it is used in Nellcor^TM, an AI-enabled device.

Case said pulse oximeters work like "shining a flashlight into the fog," and AI allows you to identify specific objects in the fog, meaning it can cut through the clutter to recognize vital information, such as a pulse.

The technology continues to evolve, more than 40 years after its first introduction.

Case said he sees forthcoming benefits for the most fragile patients, such as older adults, or babies in neonatal intensive care units.

From innovating gentler adhesives to applying algorithms to help predict infections, "there are big problems we can solve when data are solid," he said.

END NOTE:

Acute Care & Monitoring products should not be used as the sole basis for diagnosis or therapy and are intended only as an adjunct in patient assessment.

L001-10222024

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