Types of pulse oximeters
Pulse oximeters are medical devices that are basically used to measure the saturation of oxygen in the blood. The pulse Oximeters will not sound new to patients suffering from asthma, COPD, and many other respiratory conditions. Pilots are also familiar with the Pulse oximeters as they are useful to them in helping to guard against Hypnoxia.
From biology, and medically speaking, the blood of a human being will show bright red color particularly when the oxygen concentration is high in it. Blood that has low concentration of oxygen will tend to be darker red. It is this color fact that the pulse oximeters are able to exploit.
There are several types of the Pulse oximeters that are available in the market today. There are those that are found in hospitals and others that can be bought for use at home.
The large models are basically used in hospitals, and there are others that are hand held or fingertip oximeters that you will find commonly used at home. The following are the two common types of the Pulse oximeters used at home:
The handheld oximeters are the ones that will basically involve the use of a probe. This probe is normally attached, using a special cord, to a unit. When testing, all you will have to do is to place the probe to your earlobe or finger. You will then switch on the oximeter.
The display unit on the screen will show your readings. There are those machines that you will even have an option of printing the results. Most of them also have built in memory. You will therefore be in a position to check the past trends of your results. These models are quite expensive and at times may be hard to use at home. Because of the above, they are basically used at home. The cheapest handheld models will go for a market value of around $500. It is possible to get the hand held pulse oximeters from major manufacturers like BCI/Smith Medical, Nonin, and SPO.
These are the commonly used pulse oximeters for home use. It is light and very portable. You will only need to insert your finger and turn the oximeter on. The saturation levels of oxygen and pulse rate are displayed on a lighted display screen after a few seconds.
The Fingertip oximeters are cheap, and they can be found in the market at a cost of $179 for the cheapest. This fingertip oximeter will be easy to store in your pulse or pocket.
You will need top do a research to get the right model of the fingertip pulse oximeter that will be ideal for you if intending to buy for home. You may need to seek advice from a qualified medical doctor in case you are to find it difficult to decide.