Pulse Oximeter | How to Use It? How does Pulse Oximetry Work?
Summary
TLDRThis video offers an in-depth look at pulse oximeters, explaining how they non-invasively measure oxygen saturation and heart rate in arterial blood. It details the device's operation, emphasizing the importance of accurate readings for health assessments. The video also discusses the significance of normal ranges for oxygen saturation and heart rate, advising viewers to seek medical attention if their readings consistently fall outside these parameters. Links to recommended pulse oximeters for home use are provided.
Takeaways
- 😀 A pulse oximeter is a non-invasive device used to monitor a patient's oxygen saturation and heart rate.
- 🌡️ It measures the level of oxygen in arterial blood by shining a light through the finger and detecting the amount of light absorbed.
- ❤️ The device provides a reading of oxygen saturation, known as SpO2, and automatically calculates the heart rate.
- 👩⚕️ Healthcare professionals use pulse oximeters to monitor patients with cardiopulmonary issues to assess their cardiopulmonary status.
- 🏠 Patients with chronic respiratory conditions may be advised to keep a pulse oximeter at home for continuous monitoring.
- 🔍 The device compensates for ambient light and finger size to ensure accurate readings, using a reference curve for calibration.
- 🤞 To get reliable readings, the device should be securely clipped onto the finger, minimizing movement and avoiding nail polish.
- 👉 Studies suggest that the middle finger of the right hand provides the most accurate readings, though any finger can be used if the device is secure.
- 🛒 Pulse oximeters can be purchased on Amazon, and it's important to ensure they meet the user's needs, especially for healthcare professionals.
- ⚠️ While using a pulse oximeter is generally safe, inaccurate readings could lead to improper treatment, so it's crucial to follow the manufacturer's guidelines for use.
Q & A
What is a pulse oximeter?
-A pulse oximeter is a non-invasive device used to monitor a patient's oxygen saturation and heart rate by clipping onto the finger and providing a reading within seconds.
How does a pulse oximeter work?
-Pulse oximeters work by shining a light through the finger, measuring the amount of oxygen in the blood. They detect the difference in wavelengths that go through oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
Why is it important to monitor oxygen saturation levels?
-Monitoring oxygen saturation levels is important because a lack of oxygen in the blood can lead to improper oxygenation of body tissues, which can be hazardous to health and indicate serious pulmonary issues.
What additional feature does a pulse oximeter provide besides oxygen saturation?
-In addition to monitoring oxygen saturation, a pulse oximeter also provides a heart rate measurement.
How accurate are pulse oximeters?
-Pulse oximeters are generally accurate, but the accuracy can depend on factors like the patient's movement, the absence of nail polish, and the proper placement of the device on the finger.
Which finger is recommended for getting the most accurate reading from a pulse oximeter?
-Studies suggest that the middle finger of the right hand provides the best accuracy, with the thumb of the right hand coming in second.
Can you use a pulse oximeter if you have nail polish on?
-It is advised to avoid using a pulse oximeter on fingers with nail polish as it can interfere with the light readings and affect the accuracy of the device.
What are the normal ranges for heart rate and oxygen saturation according to the video?
-The normal range for heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute, and for oxygen saturation, it is 95 to 100%.
What is the term for an abnormally low level of oxygen in the blood?
-Hypoxemia is the term used for an abnormally low level of oxygen in the blood, which is treated with supplemental oxygen.
Where can you purchase a pulse oximeter as mentioned in the video?
-You can purchase a pulse oximeter on Amazon, and the video provides links to some top recommendations in the description.
What should you do if your pulse oximeter readings consistently fall outside of the normal ranges?
-If your pulse oximeter readings consistently fall outside of the normal ranges, it is advisable to seek medical advice or consult with a healthcare professional.
Outlines
🌡️ Introduction to Pulse Oximeters
This paragraph introduces the topic of pulse oximeters, explaining what they are and their importance. A pulse oximeter is a non-invasive device used to monitor a patient's oxygen saturation levels in arterial blood and heart rate. It is a small, portable device that clips onto the finger and provides readings quickly. The script emphasizes the significance of oxygen saturation for health, as low levels can indicate serious pulmonary issues. Healthcare professionals use these devices to monitor patients' cardiopulmonary status, and some patients are advised to keep one at home. The video also provides links to recommended pulse oximeters for home use.
💡 How Pulse Oximeters Work
This section delves into the functioning of pulse oximeters. They operate by shining light through the finger to measure oxygen levels in the blood. The device uses a light source and a receiver to detect the amount of light that passes through the finger, taking into account the differences in wavelengths absorbed by oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. The device compensates for ambient light and finger size to provide accurate readings. It uses a reference curve for calibration to ensure precision. The paragraph also discusses what the device measures, including oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate, and why these measurements are crucial for medical professionals.
🛒 Purchasing and Using Pulse Oximeters
The final paragraph covers the practical aspects of purchasing and using pulse oximeters. It addresses the question of where to buy them, specifically mentioning Amazon as a platform where recommended models are available. The script also discusses the importance of accurate readings and the potential risks of inaccurate measurements, which could lead to improper patient treatment. The normal ranges for heart rate and oxygen saturation are provided, with a reminder that these can vary by age. The paragraph concludes with a light-hearted call to action for viewers to engage with the video content and subscribe for future videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Pulse Oximeter
💡Oxygen Saturation
💡Heart Rate
💡Arterial Blood
💡Non-Invasive
💡Hemoglobin
💡SpO2
💡Hypoxemia
💡Respiratory Therapist
💡Cardiopulmonary
Highlights
A pulse oximeter is a device used to monitor a patient's oxygen saturation and heart rate non-invasively.
It measures the level of oxygen within the blood, specifically in arterial blood.
The device clips onto the finger and provides a reading within seconds.
Lack of oxygen in the blood can indicate serious pulmonary issues.
Pulse oximeters are used by healthcare professionals to monitor patients' cardiopulmonary status.
Some patients with cardiopulmonary problems are recommended to keep a pulse oximeter at home.
Pulse oximeters work by shining a light through the finger to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
The device compensates for ambient light and finger size to ensure accurate readings.
It uses a reference curve to calibrate and normalize readings for precision.
The primary function is to measure oxygen saturation, known as SpO2, and calculate heart rate.
Pulse oximetry is non-invasive, providing results in seconds without drawing blood.
Minimizing patient movement and ensuring no nail polish is worn improves reading accuracy.
The middle finger of the right hand is found to give the most accurate readings.
Pulse oximeters can be purchased on Amazon at affordable rates.
There are no risks or dangers in using a pulse oximeter, but inaccurate readings could lead to poor patient treatment.
The normal range for heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute, and for oxygen saturation, it's 95 to 100%.
Hypoxemia, or low oxygen levels, is treated with supplemental oxygen if saturation drops below 90%.
Consistently abnormal readings should prompt a consultation with a doctor or medical professional.
Transcripts
what's up guys in this video we are
going to discuss pretty much everything
there is to know about pulse oximeters
are you ready let's go
[Music]
so since you're here watching this video
you may be wondering what exactly is a
pulse oximeter a pulse oximeter is a
device that is used to quickly and
easily monitor a patient's oxygen
saturation this means that it can
measure the level of oxygen within the
blood specifically in arterial blood
without using any invasive means it is
typically a small portable device that
clips onto the finger and provides a
reading within seconds and in addition
to monitoring oxygen saturation the
device provides a heart rate measurement
as well arterial blood flows to parts of
the body from the heart fresh with
oxygen where it diffuses to the
surrounding tissues and cells and if
there is a lack of oxygen in the blood
that means that your body tissues will
not be oxygenated properly and can be
hazardous to your health
this can be an indication of serious
pulmonary issues and that is why it's so
important to use a pulse oximeter
respiratory therapist as well as other
healthcare professionals use these
portable devices to constantly monitor
their patients oxygenation levels and
their heart rate and these vital sign
readings help provide a better
understanding of the patient's overall
cardiopulmonary status and in some cases
it is also recommended that patients
with cardiopulmonary problems keep their
very own pulse oximeter at home so if
that's you and you're looking to
purchase a pulse oximeter I put a few
links down below to some of our top
recommendations so how exactly does a
pulse oximeter work pulse oximeters work
on a simple but brilliant principle so
basically the pulse oximeter shines a
light through your finger and by doing
so it can measure the amount of oxygen
that's at your blood blood absorbs light
and there's a distinct difference
between the wavelengths that go through
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood the
finger clip of the pulse oximeter
consists of a transmitting light source
that emits a bra
spectrum of light and on the other side
there's a receiver that measures how
much light passes through the finger the
diode on the receiving end is capable of
detecting the wavelength of light the
internal circuits and processing
components of the pulse oximeter do some
calculations as well and that is because
the device has to compensate for ambient
light so for example the light in your
room or from the Sun it also has to
compensate for the size of the finger
and for the absorbance of the rest of
the tissues the device has a reference
curved that is saved into its memory and
it uses this as a way to calibrate
incoming readings and to normalize them
so that you can get an accurate reading
and this helps to increase the precision
of the results that it provides so what
does a pulse oximeter measure now as we
mentioned before a pulse oximeter
measures the oxygen saturation in the
blood and it gives a heart rate
measurement and when I say it measures
the saturation of oxygen in the blood
I'm of course talking about arterial
blood more precisely it measures the
amount of oxygen that is being carried
by hemoglobin and this reading is known
as the spo2 so the primary function of a
pulse oximeter is to measure oxygen
saturation and by doing so the heart
rate is automatically calculated
alongside of the percentage of oxygen so
heart rate and oxygen saturation
complement one another and doctors and
respiratory therapists rely on these
readings to know how to properly treat
their patients so if you already have a
pulse oximeter you may be wondering how
to use it the best part of pulse
oximetry is that is non-invasive back in
the day doctors had to draw blood from
the patient and perform several tests in
order to find out the percentage of
oxygen saturation now we can get that
reading in a matter of seconds by using
a pulse oximeter all you have to do is
clip the device on the middle finger or
Oh NATO or even on an earlobe some
models are even surface probes that can
attach to the patient's forehead or even
their chest and once the device is
attached and turned on it will provide
you with the readings in a matter of
seconds but to get reliable realistic
readings you should try to minimize the
patient's movement as much as possible
and also if you're using a fingertip
pulse oximeter make sure that you're not
wearing any nail polish if you're using
it on yourself or if you're a medical
professional make sure that the patient
does not have on any nail polish as well
and another question that I hear quite
often is which finger is best for a
pulse oximeter if you didn't know
accuracy is often the biggest concern
when it comes to measuring oxygen
saturation with a pulse oximeter some
studies were performed and it actually
showed that the middle finger of the
right hand gives the best accuracy and
surprisingly the thumb of the right hand
came in second this is a bit of a
surprise for doctors respiratory
therapists and medical practitioners
because the same study showed that about
80% of health care workers tend to clip
the pulse oximeter to the patient's
index finger but with that all said the
differences were negligible and any
finger as long as the device is secure
on the finger should give you an
accurate reading but if you had to
choose you can always go with the middle
finger of the right hand and since
you've made it this far you may be
wondering can you purchase a pulse
oximeter on Amazon and the answer is yes
of course you can each of the pulse
oximeter is that we recommend can be
purchased on Amazon at a pretty
affordable rate and just be sure to
check with your doctor and the
manufacturer to make sure that the
device meets your needs especially as a
health care professional but if you want
to see the ones that rear end just check
out the links down below in the
description and now let's talk about the
risk of using a pulse oximeter
now thankfully there aren't any risk or
dangers of using a pulse oximeter the
biggest concern is making sure that the
device is given an accurate reading this
is especially true for doctors
respiratory therapists and medical
professionals that is because if the
pulse oximeter gives inaccurate results
that could lead to poor patient
treatment and care and yes while
technically it is true that there aren't
any dangers and using the device itself
like you're not going to get shocked or
anything but there could be some very
serious dangers if the results are not
in the normal ranges and that is what we
are going to talk about next what are
the normal ranges for a pulse oximeter
now we've already discussed what pulse
oximeter is measure and how they work
now we need to talk about what the
normal ranges are for a heart rate and
oxygen saturation the normal range for
heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute
the normal range for oxygen saturation
is 95 to 100% now keep in mind these are
the normal values for an average adult
these ranges differ depending on your
age so that means your normal range
could be different than someone else's
normal range depending on how old you
are and while the normal range for
oxygen saturation is 95 to 100% the
level isn't considered to be dangerously
low until it drops below 90% in such a
case that is referred to as hypoxemia
which means that there is an abnormally
low level of oxygen in the blood
hypoxemia is treated with supplemental
oxygen so if you are a regular user of a
pulse oximeter at home and the results
that you are getting are consistently
falling outside of the normal ranges
it will probably be wise for you to
consider seeing your doctor or seeking
professional medical advice
and the final step of using a pulse
oximeter is to take your index finger
and smash that like button
okay okay I'm just kidding that's
obviously not a step but I would greatly
appreciate it because it really helps
support the channel alright guys that my
friends is pretty much everything you
need to know about a pulse oximeter and
just one final reminder I put links to
our favorite pulse oximeters to purchase
for home use down below in the
description so check those out if you're
interested I hope this video was helpful
and informative for you if so again
please hit that thumbs up button for me
and leave a comment below letting me
know if there's any specific topics that
you want us to cover in a future video
and definitely don't forget to subscribe
and tight on the notification bill
because we got some really good videos
that will be coming out soon and you
don't want to miss them that's it for
this one thanks again for watching and I
will see you in the next video and as
always breathe easy my friend
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you
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