Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive method for monitoring a person’s oxygen saturation (SO2) . Though its reading of peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) is not always identical to the more desirable reading of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) from arterial blood gas analysis, the two are correlated well enough that the safe, convenient, noninvasive, inexpensive pulse oximetry method is valuable for measuring oxygen saturation in clinical use.
A pulse oximeter is a medical device that indirectly monitors the oxygen saturation of a patient’s blood (as opposed to measuring oxygen saturation directly through a blood sample) and changes in blood volume in the skin, producing a photoplethysmogram that may be further processed into other measurements. Portable, battery-operated pulse oximeters are also available for home blood-oxygen monitoring.
Blood oxygen saturation refers to the ratio of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin to total hemoglobin in the blood. The normal arterial blood oxygen saturation of the human body is 95-100%. If the level is below 90%, it is considered hypoxemia. If it is less than 80%, it may damage organ functions, such as the brain and heart, and it should be resolved in time. Persistent hypoxia levels may cause breathing or cardiac arrest.
Hypoxemia is one of the typical symptoms of COVID-19.
At present, there are many brands of oximeters on the market based on sales. Today we recommend the 10 best Pulse oximeters.