Portable oximeter

Oximeter

How pulse oximeters work:

According to Luis Javier Pena-Hernández, MD, a lung health specialist at the South Florida Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Disorders Institute, pulse oximeters work by measuring color changes in the nail bed with infrared light. The light estimates the oxygen saturation of blood flowing through this tissue. This can give the user important information about their oxygenation and alert people when chronic respiratory problems (or even COVID or the flu!) have affected their oxygen levels.

"Any patient who has a chronic respiratory condition where oxygen saturation is dropping would benefit from having a pulse oximeter at home," says Dr. Pena-Hernández, adding that this includes conditions that require patients to use oxygen at home, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.