Have You Ever Used An Oxygen Monitor At Home?

There was a time when we had to go running to the doctor for every small thing

, from a runny nose to having our blood pressure checked. These days we have a lot more choice and there are any numbers of medical monitoring devices which can be used at home. Among these is the oxygen meter or the oxygen saturation monitor. This measures the level of oxygen which is being carried by the red blood cells in the body and this measurement can be used to check for certain heart defects. This is also called pulse oximetry. People breathing regular air have a saturation of 96% to 98%; anything less than 95% results in hypoxemia, which is cause for concern.

How does it work?

A long, thin wire is attached to theoxygen monitor. This wire connects to a cover called a probe (also called a sensor). This is attached to the finger orthe toe and a red light is shone through and is seen by the detector on the other side. The detector measures the amount of oxygen in the blood.As the amount of saturated haemoglobin alters the wavelengths of the transmitted light, analysis of the received light is translated into a percentage of oxygen saturation (SO2) of the blood.

Calibration and Performance

Oximeters are calibrated during manufacture and automatically check their internal circuits when they are turned on. They are accurate in the range of oxygen saturations of 70 to 100% (+/-2%), but less accurate under 70%. The pitch of the audible pulse signal falls with reducing values of saturation. The unit displays the percentage of Hb saturated with oxygen together with an audible signal for each pulse beat, a calculated heart rate and in some models, a graphical display of the blood flow past the probe.

Features to look for

Accurate oxygen saturation and pulse rate data in seconds

Easy to use; automatically turns on/off with finger insertion/removal

Compact size fits easily into a pocket

Bright LED or LCD display is highly visible in the dark

Moisture resistant

Low battery indicator

In a hospital there will be nurses who will do the actual monitoring and recording of the results, but at home you will have to make sure that you follow the instructions carefully and record the results properly, to show to the doctor. An oxygen meter for use at home can be a useful tool and will very user friendly and come with full guidelines regarding the uses and functions.

The procedure is non invasive and there is no pain involved at all. Using an oxygen saturation monitor at home is very easy and is now quite a common thing, especially when the monitoring needs to be over a long time.Before pulse oximetry was available, hypoxemia was detected mainly through skin assessment for cyanosis. An early "ear oxygen meter" was invented between 1939 and 1942 by Glen Millikan, a physiologist seeking a way to measure oxygenation in aviators; he coined the term "oximeter.")

by: Daniel Brash

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