Have you ever heard of a Pulse Oximeter?

Did anyone suggest to take pulse oximeter during this COVID-19?

In the recent times we are hearing the word “pulse oximeter” through social media as well as in news most often.

But, what is this pulse oximeter?

Why medical people are suggesting this device the most?

Let’s dig deeper in getting the details of this pulse oximeter.

What is Pulse Oximeter?

Oxygen is carried throughout our body through haemoglobin which is an iron containing protein.

After breathing oxygen into the lungs, it combines with haemoglobin in red blood cells as they pass through pulmonary capillaries. Heart pumps blood regularly to deliver oxygen to the tissues around the body.

A pulse oximeter is a early warning device. It has the ability to provide an early warning before it gets too late. That’s why it is recommended the most even by world health organization.

Sometimes persons feel difficult to breathe oxygen as pumping of heart will be difficult and low hemoglobin is one of the reasons for that. Such persons are termed as anemic.

When hemoglobin turns down to 6 g/dl, delivery of oxygen to tissues will become more difficult.

They should be given 100% oxygen to breathe. This will increase the oxygen level in blood and improve the tissue oxygen delivery by a small amount.

A pulse oximeter is a sensitive, small and light weight device used to detect oxygen levels in our body.

This is a very user friendly device and detects oxygen level in our body through a finger tip insert.

The light rays of two different wave length pass through our finger tip and measure the oxygen level as well as pulse rate in our body.

Once the measurement is done by the light, it displays the reading in oximeter the pulse rate and oxygen level in terms of percentage.

Based on all digital technology, the pulse oximeter is intended for non-invasive spot-check measurement of functional oxygen saturation of arterial hemoglobin(SpO2).

The digital algorithm inserted in the device reduces the influence of motion artefact and improve measurement accuracy of low perfusion.

This oximeter is particularly suitable for persons with chronic instructive pulmonary diseases, asthma, heart failure and recently covid-19.

The oximeter can be used to measure the human hemoglobin saturation and heat rate through finger.

Blood Oxygen Saturation (SpO2):

Oxygen saturation is the fraction of saturated hemoglobin to total hemoglobin in our body. One molecule of hemoglobin can carry up to four molecules of oxygen and it is described as “saturated” with oxygen.  

SpO2 is also known as oxygen saturation. It detects the amount of oxygen present in our blood.

Normal arterial blood oxygen saturation levels in healthy human in 95-100%.

If the oxygen saturation is below 94%, the person is hypoxic and needs to be treated immediately.

A saturation of 90% is critical and emergency. This low saturation can be caused due to various reasons and some of them are shortness of breath, chest pain, increased heart rate.

Perfusion Index:

Perfusion Index is an action for doctors to check if a sensor site has great heartbeat strength. There’s not much for you to do, But rather for your data, PI is communicated as a percent going from 0.02% to 20%. Typical PI may differ from one individual to another contingent upon different components. Counsel a clinical expert to comprehend how this level affects you.

Pulse Rate:

Pulse rate is an estimation of number of heart beats per minute. Normal pulse rate ranges from 60-100 beats per minute(bpm).

A lower heart rate at rest implies efficient heart function and cardiovascular fitness.

Pulse rate of below 60 indicates very slow heart rate.

Slow heart rate can cause problems like chest pain, fainting, memory problems etc.

SpO2 and pulse rate measurements outside the normal range are not a sign of health problems.

Sometimes while doing workouts we observe increase in heart rate and decrease in oxygen saturation, but it should be above 90% or higher.

Some people call it the fifth vital sign.

Components and function of pulse oximeter:

It consists of monitor containing display and batteries.

The monitor consists of a micro-processor and display.

The display shows the  oxygen saturation, pulse rate, waveform detected by the sensor. The monitor is connected to the patient via the probe.

The monitor updates the reading regularly to give an immediate result about oxygen saturation and pulse rate in our body.

The pulse indicator is continuously displayed the information about the circulation.

The oximeter consists of light detector and a light emitting diode.

Beams of light are shown through the tissues from one side of the probe to another.

The blood and tissues absorb some of the light that comes from probe.

The light absorbed by the blood varies with the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin.

The photo detector detects the light transmitted as the blood pulses through the tissues and the microprocessor calculates a value for the oxygen saturation (SpO2).

A pulse oximeter does not give direct information about respiratory rate, tidal volume, cardiac output or blood pressure.

However, it does so indirectly and if these factors lead to desaturation, this will be detected by the pulse oximeter.

Is pulse oximeter helps in finding the symptoms of covid-19?

The coronavirus that causes covid-19 enters the body through respiratory system causing direct injury to the lungs. This can occur for any one, not only for critically ill patients.

Covid-19 patients will have low oxygen levels and otherwise that is termed as “happy hypoxia”.

Happy hypoxia is an asymptomatic that is present in people and cannot be detected easily. It can be detected with pulse oximeter as an early warning sign.

Some Covid-19 patients are not showing low oxygen level symptoms but they are feeling fever and weakness.

However people should not think that having good oxygen level prevents from affecting to corona.

Pulse oximeter helps the Covid-19 patients who are in self-isolation at home, for checking oxygen levels.

Those who have lung disease, heart disease, active smoking habit, obesity are at higher risk with oxygen issues.

If the pulse oximeter level drops to 90%, then immediate medical attention need to be taken.

I am suggesting the quality oximeter here and you can click on any image in this article to buy the oximeter in your region.

Do not compromise on the quality of healthcare products.

Most important thing I want to tell you is that this pulse oximeter saved my friends parents on time by showing accurate oxygen readings in the device and they are able to save their parents on time.

Do not procrastinate in buying these products.

Save your loved ones.

Thanks for reading this article till here.

Do comment your views on this article and I welcome suggestions for improvement.