A pulse oximeter attaches to a finger and uses light to detect the level of oxygen in your blood.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO website.
As coronavirus testing efforts ramp up and face masks have become a part of everyday life, a tiny diagnostic tool that clips to the tip of your finger is quickly becoming a must-have gadget in the fight against COVID-19. It's called a pulse oximeter, and it painlessly checks your blood oxygen level as well as heart rate.
The device was already starting to surge in popularity as the public learned how people with the coronavirus often arrive at the hospital with abnormally low oxygen levels. After an op-ed piece in The New York Times on April 20 recommended the use of pulse oximeters to detect the frightening condition known as "silent hypoxia," sales of the devices skyrocketed. Right now, most are sold out in stores and online.
CNET Coronavirus Update
Keep track of the coronavirus pandemic.
But questions and controversy have formed around the at-home use of pulse oximeters. It's not entirely clear if pulse oximeters can help detect a coronavirus infection or whether their widespread use can help curb the spread of COVID-19.
Whether you already have a pulse oximeter or you're thinking about buying one, here's what you need to know about what they do, how they work, what the results mean and how accurate they might be.
Now playing: Watch this: How pulse oximeters measure your blood oxygen levels
6:14
Pulse oximeters: Vital signs, 온라인슬롯 at your fingertips
A pulse oximeter is a small medical device that measures heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. It's usually clipped to your finger, but it can also attach to your ear, nose, toe or forehead. Some are battery powered and provide real-time results on a small LED display on the device itself. Others connect with a wire to a separate vital sign monitor that records even more precise information about your heart rhythm, body temperature and blood pressure using other sensors connected to your body.
How pulse oximeters measure heart rate and oxygen
A pulse oximeter measures your blood oxygen saturation and heart rate by shining a light through your skin and detecting both the color and movement of your blood cells. Oxygenated blood cells are bright red, deoxygenated cells are dark red.
The pulse oximeter compares the number of bright red cells to dark red cells to calculate your oxygen saturation as a percentage. So, for example, a reading of 99% means only 1% of the blood cells in your bloodstream have been depleted of oxygen.
Every time your heart beats, it pushes your blood through your body in a quick pulse (which is why "pulse" is another word for "heart rate"). A pulse oximeter, using light, detects this movement and calculates your heart rate in beats per minute, or BPM.
A Ciência & Ensino é uma publicação semestral destinada a professores de ciências do ensino fundamental e médio e seus formadores.
Pulse oximeters: How they work, might help fight coronavirus and more
por Maxwell Virgo (2020-05-12)
id="article-body" class="row" section="article-body">Sean Gallup/Getty Images
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO website.
As coronavirus testing efforts ramp up and face masks have become a part of everyday life, a tiny diagnostic tool that clips to the tip of your finger is quickly becoming a must-have gadget in the fight against COVID-19. It's called a pulse oximeter, and it painlessly checks your blood oxygen level as well as heart rate.
The device was already starting to surge in popularity as the public learned how people with the coronavirus often arrive at the hospital with abnormally low oxygen levels. After an op-ed piece in The New York Times on April 20 recommended the use of pulse oximeters to detect the frightening condition known as "silent hypoxia," sales of the devices skyrocketed. Right now, most are sold out in stores and online.
CNET Coronavirus Update
Keep track of the coronavirus pandemic.
But questions and controversy have formed around the at-home use of pulse oximeters. It's not entirely clear if pulse oximeters can help detect a coronavirus infection or whether their widespread use can help curb the spread of COVID-19.
Whether you already have a pulse oximeter or you're thinking about buying one, here's what you need to know about what they do, how they work, what the results mean and how accurate they might be.
Now playing: Watch this: How pulse oximeters measure your blood oxygen levels
6:14
Pulse oximeters: Vital signs, 온라인슬롯 at your fingertips
A pulse oximeter is a small medical device that measures heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. It's usually clipped to your finger, but it can also attach to your ear, nose, toe or forehead. Some are battery powered and provide real-time results on a small LED display on the device itself. Others connect with a wire to a separate vital sign monitor that records even more precise information about your heart rhythm, body temperature and blood pressure using other sensors connected to your body.
How pulse oximeters measure heart rate and oxygen
A pulse oximeter measures your blood oxygen saturation and heart rate by shining a light through your skin and detecting both the color and movement of your blood cells. Oxygenated blood cells are bright red, deoxygenated cells are dark red.
The pulse oximeter compares the number of bright red cells to dark red cells to calculate your oxygen saturation as a percentage. So, for example, a reading of 99% means only 1% of the blood cells in your bloodstream have been depleted of oxygen.
Every time your heart beats, it pushes your blood through your body in a quick pulse (which is why "pulse" is another word for "heart rate"). A pulse oximeter, using light, detects this movement and calculates your heart rate in beats per minute, or BPM.