Pulse Oximetry Today

More than a decade ago, operating rooms and post-anesthesia care units (PACU) were the common places to encounter the bulky type of pulse oximeters. It was necessary to monitor the SpO2 or the oxygen saturation of the patient’s blood due to a fatal complication of hypoxemia following anesthesia administration. Unlike arterial blood gas which are highly invasive and quite a painful procedure for patients, pulse oximeters are more preferred due to their non-invasive nature and capability of continuous monitoring and accurate results.

But the potential value of pulse oximetry in the care of various cases wasn’t realized until the later part of the 20th century when the microprocessor was developed and sensors were improved. This allows for the invention of a smaller, more convenient yet equally durable pulse oximeter.

Virtually any patient can benefit from the use of pulse oximeters. For this reason, almost every health care facility is required to possess this important tool in the assessment of pulmonary status of a person, or even for intermittent diagnostic testing. It allows physicians to look beyond what the human eye cannot see. Nowadays, with the expansion in its clinical application, pulse oximetry has evolved into a cost-effective, handy equipment capable of the same functions of a conventional oximeter.

A handheld pulse oximeter is composed of a probe that is attached to a part of the patient’s body, usually the fingertip, earlobe, or foot (for neonates), and an LCD screen where the results can be read. Various probes can be used with this device—infant, older children, adult, or even disposable probes depending on the demand. The handheld model is designed either for spot checks or continuous monitoring that can be applied in almost any setting. Its size and simplicity makes it favorable for use even by non-professionals.

Several brands and companies have produced their own version of a handheld pulse oximeter, adding up features such as a waveform display of the pulse rate, device to pc data transmission, extended hours of storage, and perfusion index. However, these add-ons are only optional. The most important part is still the clean transmission of light from the probe as well as the data processing within the unit in order to produce accurate data.