How to understand how a pulse oximeter works

 

 Understanding how a pulse oximeter works can be complicated in some respects and actually quite easy in other respects. The reason why I say this is because the general idea is very simple and easy to follow. What happens is that you or in conjunction with your physician decide that you will be in need of monitoring your health and oxygen levels with the help of a pulse oximeter. Once this is decided then what you do is place your finger inside the device and then within seconds you begin to get a reading of your pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation. Blood oxygen saturation has been referred to as SpO2 by professionals and really represents the percentage of oxygen in the hemoglobin of an individual. This number is very important to those with certain respiratory conditions including asthma and COPD as it is their main way of telling their health. The technical way that the pulse oximeter works is that it uses an infrared light that passes through the skin harmlessly to measure the two vital signs. Blood actually has different reflective characteristics that are able to be measured by the infrared light. These differences are translate back to the device’s computer for computing the actual numbers that are then generated for the individual to use for their own purposes. So the key to the whole process is the way that the infrared light actually goes through the ski and reflects back a certain amount of that light for the central computer of the product to measure the results. Now you have to keep in mind that one of the factors that does affect the readings of the pulse oximeter is nail polish. Nail polish has a profound effect because it gets in the way of the infrared light functioning properly and thus the readings are skewed. So it’s a good idea not to wear the polish when using the device.