The Accuracy and Reliability of Pulse Oximeter

The accuracy and reliability of a pulse oximeter matters. The main purpose of a pulse oximeter is to measure your oxygen saturation (SpO2) and pulse rate. So it is important to find one that produces accurate results within its operating range consistently and reliability. Generally, pulse oximeter uses similar mechanisms for reading data but differ in how they are manufactured. To obtain an accurate reading, you should be able to validate your pulse oximeter by comparing it with others. This includes oximeter on your doctor’s office or medical clinics. Most of the oximeters nowadays can take a reading within a few seconds and have an accuracy of ±3%. The accuracy of oximeter readings are often affected by motion. If your hand shakes, find a model that is more tolerant to hand movements or hold your hand still while taking readings. Fingertip pulse oximeters being operated by inserting your finger into the sensor and then pressing one button, made them easy to operate. Also, make sure that the display is large enough for you to read. Some oximeter can display the data in different ways making them easier to read. The sensor size is also an important factor. You should always make sure that you can insert your finger comfortably in the sensor. This is normally not a concern for clip-on type. However, for children and persons with small hands, consider a pediatric oximeter. There are other features that will assist you in using the oximeter. You should always consider saving previous readings and timestamps; generate various statistics; save readings for more than one person; save readings to a computer for further analysis by you or your doctor; analyze the data; the availability of storage case, log book, and battery, and its easiness of storage. An oximeter device is required to undergo FDA registration before selling in US. Though almost all of the oximeters for sale in the market today are certified already, you may still want to verify the certification by going to FDA Medical Device Data Base. There, you can enter the manufacturer name in the search field to assure of the certification. The use of fingertip pulse oximeter should be reliable and accurate. Because this is a method that would let the patients be monitored in many circumstances. The oximeter may characterize a wise choice of monitor, as with training it allows for the assessment of several different patient parameters.