A Pulse Oximeter measures two biometric units from your body.

 

The first is your pulse rate (typically seen as a PR unit or a small heart icon on many meters). A pulse rate is an immediate indicator of your cardiac health. A normal adult male resting pulse (depending on your age, sex and fitness) is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Experiencing a pulse rate significantly outside of this range while not doing any exercise is a potential indicator of an issue that needs immediate medical attention.

 

The second measurement a pulse oximeter takes is your blood oxygen level. Specifically, pulse oximeters are a non-invasive measurement of the hemoglobin in your arteries present as oxyhemoglobin. This is read as a percentage with ranges of 95% to 100% being normal (readings down to 90% are common though). It measure this by using a small LED (light emitting diode) to emit light through the body (e.g. a finger) to be picked up by a photodiode on the other wide of the meter. Typically two LEDs are used - a red LED (wavelength of about 660nm) and one in the infrared range (905,910 or 940nm).

 

A pulse oxygen meter always has a pulse rate meter built into the system and can not work without it. This is because the monitored signal is timed to the pulse as the blood vessels expand and contract with every heart beat. It uses parts of the absorption reading to determine the signal only generated from arterial blood. Put simple, if you can't find a pulse where you place the meter, the meter won't work (of course, if you can't find a pulse at all, measure pulse-ox is the last of your worries right now).

 

Now you know the basics of a pulse oximeter unit, lets take a closer look at one of meters available in the store. A typical unit is the Fingertip CMS 50L unit (check the manufacturer's store in the link below for the current sale price).

 

This FDA approved meter has a 1 year warranty and comes with the following specifications -

 

Display mode: LED display
SPO2 measuring range:35%-100%
Pulse rate measuring range:30bpm-240bpm
Pulse waveform display: bar graph display
Low battery indication: LED display
Power supply Requirement: 1.5V(AAA size) Alkaline Batteries * 2;
Working current:<=25mA
Resolution: SPO2 : 1% Pulse Rate: 1bpm
Accuracy: SPO2 :70% to 100% (+,-)2 digits,below 70%unspecified Pulse rate:(+,-)2bpm or (+,-)2%(select larger)
Measurement at Low Perfusion: The values of SPO2 and pulse rate can be displayed properly when pulse saturation is at 0.4%.
Accuracy of SPO2:(+,-)4%
Accuracy of Pulse Ratio.(+,-)2BPM or (+,-)2% (Select Larger)
Resistance to surrounding light:
Deviation is smaller than (+,-)1% between value of Oxyhemoglobin measured in natural lighting indoor condition and present lighting sources and that measured in dark room.

Automatic shutdown function:The device will power off automatically within 5 seconds when there is no finger in the device.

 

If you would like to know more about this meter or any of the manufacturer's other products, please check out their store by clicking here.

 

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