Check your oximeter's fitness

Oximeter, once a rarely heard name and used only in the hospitals has now become the household item since the pandemic began.

- Dr. Chinnadurai R.

To safeguard patients from deteriorating health, doctors suggest monitoring the oxygen saturation level frequently. With an increasing number of oximeter devices available in the market, do we know if the product we are using is calibrated right and working properly? Let’s understand how oximeter works, how to take the readings and about identifying the faulty readings.

Pulse oximeter is a device which measures the oxygen saturation level in the blood in a non-invasive and painless way. This small clip-like device assesses the heart rate and oxygen level. For a person who tested positive for Covid 19, the oxygen level is the key indicator to understand whether the infection has spread to the individual’s lungs. Especially among people who have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, this device helps to track the severity of infection. A pulse oximeter is typically a fairly accurate test with a provision for an error margin of 2%. Therefore, an oximeter has become the must-have device during Covid times to know your lung condition.

A faulty oximeter may provide faulty readings which may in some cases lead to emergency situations as people are increasingly dependent on oximeters. In many cases, these variations may go unnoticed and people end up in the emergency rooms due to the faulty oximeters.