This writing covers various aspects of pulse oximetry and provides insights into its application in multiple situations. This includes understanding the basics and exploring their significance in managing chronic diseases, monitoring athletic performance, and diagnosing sleep apnea. Suppose you plan to work on your general health, ensure safety in the anesthesia process, or explore new developments in the field. In that case, this is the perfect piece to go through.
Pulse Oximetry is a non-invasive, bloodless, and painless way of measuring your oxygen levels in the blood. The device used is called the pulse oximeter. It can catch even the smallest minute changes in blood oxygen levels.
The results are within about two percent to four percent accuracy. Usually, this is sufficient enough accuracy, considering that the method is quick, efficient, cheap, and, most importantly, non-invasive.
It is important to understand the workings and usage of the device. You should know the basics, like which finger to use or the two readings on a pulse oximeter. This blood oxygen level can be determined in in-patient and outpatient settings.
Firstly, a probe device is attached to your finger or earlobe. It may also be connected to a forehead or a foot in the case of infants. You may use any finger, but make sure that the nail on the finger doesn’t have any nail polish or anything similar on it. You should ensure that the contact between the finger and the device is uninterrupted and direct.
The device then passes two wavelengths of the visible light spectrum into the finger or the attached body part. The pulse oximeter contains photodiodes and photodetectors acting as sensors of light. These sensors note the absorptions in your blood carried by arteries and present the data as results to you. This type is known as transmissive pulse oximetry.
In most pulse oximeters, there are two displays. One shows how fast your cardiac muscle is beating, and the other shows the oxygen saturation in your blood in percentages.
This method differs slightly from the transmissive type, but it is rare to encounter as it is less popular than its alternative.
Reflectance pulse oximetry doesn’t require the device to be attached to a thinner body part, rather accepts a universal application like that of feet, forehead, or chest. However, its working may get compromised when a person has a sudden blood rush in the organs mentioned above. This is quite common in the case of foreheads or chests etc.
The importance of pulse oximetry comes into light when you understand the significance of oxygen in the blood. Most healthy adults and kids don’t need to monitor these thresholds. But you should closely check these if you suffer from diseases like asthma, cardiac conditions, pulmonary diseases, or cystic fibrosis.
A healthy person with good saturation in the blood will show results of about 95-100%, with a margin of error of two to four percent.
You suffer from hypoxemia if your blood saturation is less than 95%. If it persists, it can lead to complicated issues in the cardiac region, brain, or kidneys. At that point, you may face symptoms like panting and short-windedness.
Saturation falling below 80-85% will change your appearance and health. If it falls below 65%, you may be at risk for cyanosis and respiratory failure.
The limitations of pulse oximeters must be kept in mind when using them. It is simpler to classify them into 3 basic problems. The results of pulse oximeters can be affected by skin pigmentation, skin thickness, and using materials like fingernail polish, etc. These factors come into play due to the technical working mechanism of the oximeter.
In addition, you should ensure that you hold still while it is measuring and give the oximeter proper time to do its work.
People use pulse oximeters to monitor their saturation thresholds during athletic activities. Constant supervision of these changes can give the athlete an idea of their “aerobic zone.” Your muscles and body get ample oxygen in this zone for sufficient exercise energy.
When you don’t receive the proper amount of oxygen, the body starts to produce lactic acid, and you may need to rest. This is why many gym equipment, like treadmills, have built-in pulse oximeters.
One of the major advantages of using pulse oximeters is their portable nature and ease of use. Their use is possible in an outpatient setting, especially at home.
The utility of these meters was seen with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. You could buy your own device and keep an eye on the saturation, a big indicator of the presence of the virus. You could also benefit from its household use if you suffer from any cardiac, pulmonary, or respiratory disease and want to avoid constant visits to a doctor.
Although a test like polysomnography properly diagnoses a sleeping disorder like sleep apnea, you could also use pulse oximetry to make a less accurate diagnosis.
The pulse oximeter is attached to you for the course of the whole night, with its results constantly observed and recorded. If the records show that there has been a great degree of fluctuations in the blood saturation, there is a risk that you may have sleep apnea. You must consult medical professionals if you suspect yourself to have sleep apnea.
Pulse oximetry can be particularly useful for managing chronic illnesses like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, and cardiac diseases. These diseases require you to observe blood saturation periodically and visit your doctor if you see any unusual fluctuations.
Moreover, you can assess the severity of asthma using the meter. It can also help monitor pulse rates in case of cardiac diseases and respiratory status, along with the need for oxygen therapy in case of pulmonary diseases.
The use of pulse oximetry in pediatric care has been encouraged by medical experts. In young infants, hypoxemia is classified at a blood saturation of less than 90% as measured by pulse oximetry at sea level.
Hypoxemia can occur in children with pneumonia and is known to cause an increased risk of death. This is the case due to the organ dysfunction that can occur in case of persistent hypoxemia. Hence, the severity of diseases like pneumonia can be reduced if there is proper use of pulse oximetry in the case of children.
Anesthetic procedures and the use of pulse oximetry go hand in hand. More simply, using pulse oximeters is an integral part of anesthetics.
The device is attached to you while undergoing the procedure, and pulse rate and blood saturation are displayed using screens. It helps to show the doctors whether you are being adequately oxygenated. The delivery of sufficient oxygen is actually the main function of an anesthesia machine, and the pulse oximeter helps it attain this aim. Moreover, it also acts as a safety monitor by accurately describing your pulse.
Many smoking rehabilitation programs that aim to help their members quit smoking have begun using pulse oximeters. The main idea behind this strategy is for you to constantly monitor your blood saturation while committing to the journey of quitting smoking.
You will soon start to see significant improvements in your blood saturation. This may motivate you and help you commit to the cessation program. These changes you will see may be tangible proof of the benefits of quitting smoking.
A quick review of a person’s medical stats is required in emergency situations. In these cases, pulse oximetry can help quickly check your oxygenation status.
However, despite the need for some quick data collection, data precision is also of great importance, and pulse oximetry fails to provide that to some extent. This method is known to overestimate the blood saturation levels by a considerable amount in these situations. This effect is further made worse by the presence of hypoxemia.
Therefore, care must be taken while using these devices in emergencies. It may be more useful in emergencies unrelated to cardiac or pulmonary organs.
When you undergo a cardiac arrest, the blood supply to the cardiac muscle is stopped by a blood clot. The body reacts by increasing the pulse rate to send more oxygen to the affected area. This can increase the pulse rate.
At the same time, the body may also decrease the flow of oxygen-rich blood to other body parts and send it instead to the cardiac area being affected. This results in a decrease in the blood saturation thresholds and causes it to go below 90%. Both these changes can be seen by a pulse oximeter.
Suppose you have exposure to high altitudes and mountains. In that case, an oximeter can be useful in predicting acute mountain sickness and other altitude sicknesses.
The importance of the device during such ventures is reiterated in many studies. The saturation and oxygen availability in the atmosphere decreases with an increase in altitude, resulting in you facing some respiratory problems. The severity of these problems can be acutely measured with the help of these devices.
It is commonly observed that although the blood saturation and pulse rate decrease with altitude, your situation may be stabilized after extensive exposure as the body adapts to the environment.
Oximeters are used by active aviation staff due to their exposure to high altitudes during flights. They can monitor their medical stats and are able to react in case of any irregularity. This applies especially to pilots who may have to deal with many higher-pressure situations and must remain calm throughout.
Due to technological advancements in the making of airplanes, the staff can observe any unusual displays on their measuring devices and take steps to ensure the return of the situation to normalcy. Hence, it can’t be denied that meters are indeed an important part of aerospace medicine.
Indications for something are a reason to take or use that thing. Likewise, contraindications for pulse oximetry are reasons not to use it. As explained above, many reasons show that using meters is beneficial. They may be used if you suffer from any cardiac or pulmonary disease, want an informal diagnosis of sleep apnea, or are heavily involved with sports or activities involving high altitudes.
Conversely, the limitations should also be realized, and a doctor must be consulted if you need guidance. The meter will not give an accurate result if carbon monoxide is involved, as it cannot differentiate between carbon monoxide and oxygen. Both of these gasses can give positive results in the display. Therefore, smokers are disadvantaged due to carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke. Moreover, the results can be inaccurate due to the presence of skin pigmentation due to the light involved.
In situations like anemia and blood volume deficiency, the results can be unreliable due to the different nature of the blood present. Although the blood saturation may be good, there could be lesser hemoglobin or blood volume overall.
To overcome its shortcomings, innovations are being made in the field of oximetry. Efforts are being made to make the devices more accurate than before. Wireless transmission technology is in the works to improve the efficiency of the meters.
Special devices are also being made for aviation officers that allow them to be worn like rings; instead of requiring them to commit a finger or any other body organ to it for a prolonged period. In addition, modes of better signal transmission are also being developed.
To sum up, pulse oximetry is a useful method for assessing oxygen saturation in various circumstances. It provides an easy and non-invasive method to measure blood oxygen levels, which makes it helpful for treating chronic conditions, tracking sports performance, identifying sleep apnea, enhancing anesthetic safety, and more.
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