• 2 days ago  As India logs more than 3 lakh daily Covid-19 cases on the second consecutive day, India Today TV Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai spoke to top doctors who answer all your frequently asked questions (FAQs) about safe oxygen levels, besides the role of oximeters, oxygen concentrators and steroid inhalers in fighting the pandemic.
• Aug 18, 2020 A pulse oximeter is a non-invasive device that measures oxygen levels in the blood. It works by using infrared rays to measure the amount of oxygen (blood gas) present in the capillaries, most commonly in the fingertips. Pulse oximeters usually need a fingertip to be inserted into the device, and held there for 6-10 seconds.

Pulse Oximetry : Purpose and uses, How it works, Procedure, Readings

Jul 17, 2019 An exercise pulse oximeter measures the level of oxygen in your blood during exercise and is a useful tool for serious athletes and people with health problems. For example, athletes routinely engaging in vigorous exercise, particularly at high altitudes, may wear pulse oximeters to ensure adequate oxygenation.

Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive and painless test. The pulse oximeter measures your oxygen saturation level, or the oxygen levels in your blood. It can detect efficiency of oxygen carried to organs like heart, legs and the arms.

The pulse oximeter is a small, clip-like device. It attaches to a body part, like toes or an earlobe. We just have to put it on a finger. A critical care setting like emergency rooms or hospitals often use the oximeter. Some doctors, such as pulmonologists, may use it in office.

Oximeter Oxygen Level

Pulse Oximetry purpose and uses

The purpose of pulse oximetry is to check how well your heart is pumping oxygen through your body.

It monitors 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:

• lung cancer
• heart attack or heart failure
• congenital heart defects

There are a number of different common use cases for pulse oximetry, including:

• assess how well a new lung medication is working
• evaluate whether someone needs help breathing
• evaluate how helpful a ventilator is
• monitor oxygen levels during or after surgical procedures that require sedation
• determine how effective supplemental oxygen therapy is, especially when treatment is new
• assess someone’s ability to tolerate increased physical activity
• evaluate whether someone momentarily stops breathing while sleeping — like in cases of sleep apnea — during a sleep study

How pulse oximetry works

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.

Procedure steps

Pulse oximetry may be used in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In some cases, your doctor may recommend that you have a pulse oximeter for home use.

The pulse oximetry process is as follows:

• 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 beforehand 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 oximetry 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.

What’s next?

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.

Your healthcare provider will be able to tell you what the next steps are. If you’re using pulse oximetry at home, they’ll let you know how often to take your readings and what to do if they go above or below certain levels.

Conclusion

Pulse oximetry is a quick, noninvasive, and completely painless test. It comes with no risks aside from potential skin irritation from the adhesive used in some types of probes.

Pulse oximetry is a term that frequently appears online and in news reports in connection with COVID-19. But what, exactly, is it?

Low Oxygen Levels Oximeter

Basically, pulse oximetry is a painless, noninvasive method of measuring the saturation of oxygen in a person’s blood.

Oxygen saturation is a crucial measure of how well the lungs are working. When we breathe in air, our lungs transmit oxygen into tiny blood vessels called capillaries. In turn, these capillaries send oxygen-rich blood to the heart, which then pumps it through arteries to the rest of the body. Our organs need a constant supply of oxygen to work properly. When the capacity of the lungs to transport oxygen into the blood is impaired, blood oxygen saturation declines, potentially putting our organs in danger. A pulse oximeter can quickly detect this drop in oxygen saturation, alerting people of the need for medical intervention.

If you have ever had a physical or visited a doctor for a medical procedure, you’ve had your blood oxygen saturation measured by a pulse oximeter. More recently, the spread of COVID-19, which can cause significant drops in blood oxygen saturation, has spurred a surge in the popularity of at-home pulse oximeters. (Some people who are worried they may have—or fear contracting—COVID-19, have purchased pulse oximeters with the aim of monitoring their blood oxygen levels.)

Oxygen Level Chart By Age

“It’s important to remember that not all changes in pulse oximetry are related to COVID-19,” says Denyse Lutchmansingh, MD, a Yale Medicine pulmonologist. “Other lung-related issues, such as pneumonia and blood clots, can also result in low readings on pulse oximetry. Thus, persistently low readings should be discussed with a doctor.”

A small, electronic device called a pulse oximeter is clipped onto a part of the body, usually a fingertip. The device emits light that passes through the fingernail, skin, tissue, and blood. On the other side of the finger, a sensor detects and measures the amount of light that passes through the finger without getting absorbed by the tissue and blood. Using that measurement, the device calculates the oxygen saturation of the blood.

Pulse oximetry offers many advantages over traditional methods of measuring blood oxygen levels. Whereas traditional methods usually involve drawing a sample of arterial blood—a potentially painful experience for patients that requires around 15 minutes, at minimum, to analyze blood samples—pulse oximetry is noninvasive and provides near-immediate readings. What’s more, pulse oximeters can be used continuously and, therefore, can provide long-term monitoring of a person’s blood oxygen levels.

At the same time, pulse oximetry is less precise than conventional methods, such as arterial blood gas testing. Also, it does not provide as much information on other blood gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) as do tests that directly measure the blood.

Today, pulse oximeters are used across a broad range of health care settings. In general practice, they are frequently used to quickly assess someone's general health, for instance, during a routine physical examination. In fact, pulse oximeters have become so widespread that blood oxygen saturation is often referred to as the “fifth vital sign,” a piece of data collected alongside four other measurements—temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration rate—to gain insight into a person’s health status.

Outside of general practice, pulse oximetry is most frequently used to monitor patients with lung and heart disorders, who are at risk of low levels of blood oxygen. In clinical settings, they are routinely used in the following situations:

Oxygen Level 85% Means

• To monitor patients before, during, and after surgery, including during anesthesia
• To monitor patients on certain medications that may reduce respiration and lung function
• To assess the lung function of people with conditions that can cause reduction of blood oxygen levels, including COPD, asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), anemia, pneumonia, lung cancer, cardiac arrest, and heart failure, among others
• To assess individuals with sleep disorders such as sleep apnea

When pulse oximeters are used at home, it has usually been by people with known lung conditions, who may regularly monitor their blood oxygen saturation levels with guidance from their doctors.

A resting oxygen saturation level between 95% and 100% is regarded as normal for a healthy person at sea level. At higher elevations, oxygen saturation levels may be slightly lower. People should contact a health care provider if their oxygen saturation readings drop below 92%, as it may be a sign of hypoxia, a condition in which not enough oxygen reaches the body’s tissues. If blood oxygen saturation levels fall to 88% or lower, seek immediate medical attention, says Dr. Lutchmansingh.

Note that for people with known lung disorders such as COPD, resting oxygen saturation levels below the normal range are usually considered acceptable. A physician can provide details on appropriate oxygen saturation levels for specific medical conditions.

Most pulse oximeters are accurate to within 2% to 4% of the actual blood oxygen saturation level. This means that a pulse oximeter reading may be anywhere from 2% to 4% higher or lower than the actual oxygen level in arterial blood.

A number of factors can impair the functioning or accuracy of a pulse oximeter. Nail polish and artificial nails may block the red and infrared light emitted by the device. Certain dyes used for diagnostic tests or medical procedures can also hinder light transmission. Excessive motion—shivering, shaking, or other movement—can also cause erroneous readings.

Skin temparture and thickness can also reduce the accuracy of pulse pulse oximeters, and whether a person smokes tobacco can affect the device’s accuracy. Pulse oximetry can be less accurate for people who have dark skin pigmentation. Recent evidence suggests that pulse oximetry more frequently fails to detect hypoxemia—low blood oxygen levels—in Black patients as compared to white patients.

Blood Oxygen Level Oximeter