* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

    Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

    ‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Thanks Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Death – CBS 19 News

    Sheinelle Jones Expresses Heartfelt Thanks to Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Passing

    Sate your hunger at DBA’s Taste of Downtown – Bakersfield.com

    Indulge Your Cravings at DBA’s Taste of Downtown!

    Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Assessing Valuation After Times Square Casino Setback and Mounting Investor Concerns – simplywall.st

    Caesars Entertainment Faces Times Square Casino Hurdles as Investor Concerns Mount

    Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

    Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    How Sustainable Technology is Shaping a Greener Future – Technology Magazine

    How Sustainable Technology is Driving the Revolution Toward a Greener Future

    Aurora police hope to add facial recognition technology to crime-fighting tools – CBS News

    Aurora Police Aim to Boost Crime-Fighting with New Facial Recognition Technology

    Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

    Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    What are we really gaining from technology? – Fast Company

    What Are We Really Gaining from Technology?

    TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. Expands SteraMist iHP Technology Services in Healthcare Sector with New Provider Partnership – Quiver Quantitative

    TOMI Environmental Solutions Accelerates SteraMist iHP Technology Expansion in Healthcare with New Provider Partnership

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

    Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

    ‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Thanks Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Death – CBS 19 News

    Sheinelle Jones Expresses Heartfelt Thanks to Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Passing

    Sate your hunger at DBA’s Taste of Downtown – Bakersfield.com

    Indulge Your Cravings at DBA’s Taste of Downtown!

    Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Assessing Valuation After Times Square Casino Setback and Mounting Investor Concerns – simplywall.st

    Caesars Entertainment Faces Times Square Casino Hurdles as Investor Concerns Mount

    Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

    Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    How Sustainable Technology is Shaping a Greener Future – Technology Magazine

    How Sustainable Technology is Driving the Revolution Toward a Greener Future

    Aurora police hope to add facial recognition technology to crime-fighting tools – CBS News

    Aurora Police Aim to Boost Crime-Fighting with New Facial Recognition Technology

    Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

    Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    What are we really gaining from technology? – Fast Company

    What Are We Really Gaining from Technology?

    TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. Expands SteraMist iHP Technology Services in Healthcare Sector with New Provider Partnership – Quiver Quantitative

    TOMI Environmental Solutions Accelerates SteraMist iHP Technology Expansion in Healthcare with New Provider Partnership

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

Q&A: Updating pulse oximeters

July 9, 2023
in Health
Q&A: Updating pulse oximeters
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

pulse oximeter

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A portable device used to detect blood oxygen levels revolutionized the medical field 50 years ago and is now receiving essential updates.

Efforts to improve the accuracy of pulse oximetry readings for diverse groups of patients and in multiple settings are underway. Joel Moss, M.D., Ph.D., a senior investigator in NHLBI’s Laboratory of Translational Research, and Bennett Yang, a postbaccalaureate fellow in Dr. Moss’s lab, describe this process and the future of pulse oximetry research.

Q: Why are portable pulse oximeters important?

Bennett Yang: The cells that make up the human body depend on oxygen for survival. Within minutes of oxygen desaturation, tissue starts to die. So, the importance of monitoring a patient’s blood oxygen levels, especially if they are low, such as during surgery or if a person has COVID-19 or pneumonia, cannot be understated. The pulse oximeter, or pulse ox, was created to rapidly and noninvasively estimate a patient’s blood oxygen saturation so that patients and physicians can monitor and adjust for an individual’s oxygen needs.

The portability of the pulse ox, such as those that can clip on fingertips, has made it more accessible and valuable, both within the hospital and at home. The pulse ox works by emitting red and near infrared light from one surface of the finger to a detector on the other side. Oxygenated and deoxygenated blood absorb these lights differently, which allows the pulse ox to calculate oxygen saturation based on these ratios.

Q: What limitations have researchers found with pulse oximeters?

Yang: The pulse ox has revolutionized medicine, but, like any device, it has limitations. For example, pulse ox accuracy tends to decrease as oxygen saturation levels drop, which could lead to inaccurate readings. This, unfortunately, is when oxygen detection is critical.

Additionally, the pulse ox does not perform well if a patient has poor blood flow in their fingertips or if they are wearing nail polish. Blood loss, constricted blood vessels, and conditions, ranging from heart failure to Raynaud’s disease, a rare condition that disrupts blood flow, can all contribute to decreased accuracy.

Physical motion can also disturb pulse ox readings. This is called motion artifact. This is especially a problem for patients who have normal oxygen saturation levels at rest but desaturate when they start to move or during daily activities.

Finally, and critically important, the pulse ox tends to overestimate oxygen saturation in patients with darker skin tones. The reason lies in melanin, which is the skin pigment. Melanin’s job is primarily to block ultraviolet light to protect tissues from underlying damage. And it does this well.

But, it also absorbs across a range of wavelengths, including red and near infrared, which are the lights emitted from the pulse oximeter. It tends to do this with differing intensities. The overall effect of this is that it skews measurements upwards in patients with darker skin tones.

Q: What did the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about health disparities related to inaccurate pulse oximetry readings?

Yang: The pitfalls of the pulse ox are not new ideas to the clinic, but the pandemic has raised more concerns about the device’s accuracy. Data from the last three years has made it painfully clear that communities of color as well as socioeconomically disadvantaged populations have disproportionately suffered from COVID. This includes more frequent oxygen desaturation.

Remember, the pulse oximeter tends to overestimate true saturation for these patients. So, not only would these patients require medical intervention more often, but recent research has shown they have also been victim to systemic delays in receiving interventions because the pulse ox is essentially telling physicians that these patients are doing better than they actually are. Hence, health disparities are compounded by the pulse ox’s inaccuracies.

Q: How are researchers studying ways to update this technology?

Yang: Updating the pulse ox will help physicians make the best choices for their patients. Thankfully, several projects are underway. One includes a new green-light pulse ox, which is being studied by researchers in Texas.

Their device is based on the principle that the difference in absorbance between oxygenated and deoxygenated blood is largest in the green-light range. Also, green light does not penetrate through the finger as well as red and near infrared light. The pulse ox instead measures reflection off of the skin rather than being transmitted through it. A benefit is that the light does not have to pass through two layers of skin and two layers of melanin, which also helps avoid any deeper sources of tissue error.

The researchers also calibrated their device using a skin pigment color scale. Therefore, the pulse ox could adjust for the skin color of each patient being monitored.

Q: How is NHLBI’s small business innovation research program supporting translational aspects of this research?

Dr. Moss: The NHLBI small business and innovation research (SBIR) program was established to fund businesses developing devices and technologies that align with NHLBI goals. Specifically, our SBIR topic 114 is part of an effort to support a company in developing a wireless, user-friendly, pulse ox that can interface with mobile devices.

The idea is that patients who need to continuously monitor their oxygen saturation, such as patients with lung disease, should be able to do so during daily activities and with technology that can automatically record their data. The SBIR explicitly mentions the need to recruit a diverse population for clinical study, which will strengthen the pulse ox’s accuracy.

We hope to have two companies compete for a phase 1 award, perhaps with clinical testing, within the next 3-4 years. A developed prototype from one company would advance to a phase 2 clinical trial leading to FDA approval.

Again, the objective is to have a wireless pulse oximeter that measures oxygen levels during exercise, regardless of skin color, and interfaces with mobile devices.

The research is published in the journal CHEST.

More information:
Bennett Yang et al, Evolution of the Pulse Ox, CHEST (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2022.12.042

Journal information:
Chest

Citation:
Q&A: Updating pulse oximeters (2023, July 7)
retrieved 9 July 2023
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-qa-pulse-oximeters.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Medical Xpress – https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-qa-pulse-oximeters.html

Tags: healthPulseUpdating
Previous Post

The Straw-Man Argument Against California’s COVID Misinfo Law

Next Post

Pain risk varies significantly across American states, finds study

Real-World Data Support Dual Benefit of Biologic Therapy for Hidradenitis Suppurativa – The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®)

Real-World Data Support Dual Benefit of Biologic Therapy for Hidradenitis Suppurativa – The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®)

September 28, 2025
Recession seems far off — that’s the good news. Yet the economy is also far from trouble-free. – MarketWatch

Recession seems far off — that’s the good news. Yet the economy is also far from trouble-free. – MarketWatch

September 28, 2025
TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

September 28, 2025
Is Clover Health (CLOV) Using AI to Shift Its Healthcare Competitive Position? – simplywall.st

Is Clover Health (CLOV) Revolutionizing Healthcare with Cutting-Edge AI?

September 28, 2025
Iowa Matters Less Than Ever for Democrats, but They Can’t Quit It – The New York Times

Iowa Matters Less Than Ever for Democrats, but They Can’t Quit It – The New York Times

September 28, 2025
Little Spokane River Spill – Washington State Department of Ecology (.gov)

Little Spokane River Spill – Washington State Department of Ecology (.gov)

September 27, 2025
St. Pete City Council voices support to save shuttered Science Center – FOX 13 Tampa Bay

St. Pete City Council voices support to save shuttered Science Center – FOX 13 Tampa Bay

September 27, 2025
LDWF Announces Temporary Closure of the Nature & Science Center at Port Wonder – Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (.gov)

Temporary Closure of the Nature & Science Center at Port Wonder Announced

September 27, 2025
The One Ingredient That Gives Chickpeas That Perfect Crunch – Yahoo

The Secret Ingredient That Makes Chickpeas Irresistibly Crunchy

September 27, 2025
How Sustainable Technology is Shaping a Greener Future – Technology Magazine

How Sustainable Technology is Driving the Revolution Toward a Greener Future

September 27, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (840)
  • Economy (861)
  • Entertainment (21,735)
  • General (17,281)
  • Health (9,904)
  • Lifestyle (873)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (862)
  • Politics (871)
  • Science (16,070)
  • Sports (21,360)
  • Technology (15,843)
  • World (843)

Recent News

Real-World Data Support Dual Benefit of Biologic Therapy for Hidradenitis Suppurativa – The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®)

Real-World Data Support Dual Benefit of Biologic Therapy for Hidradenitis Suppurativa – The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®)

September 28, 2025
Recession seems far off — that’s the good news. Yet the economy is also far from trouble-free. – MarketWatch

Recession seems far off — that’s the good news. Yet the economy is also far from trouble-free. – MarketWatch

September 28, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version