Pulse oximetry is a painless and noninvasive test which measures the oxygen levels in your blood, or your oxygen saturation level. This test detects the changes in how efficiently oxygen is being carried to the extremities furthest from the heart, such as the legs and the arms. This test uses a clip-like device, known as a pulse oximeter. The pulse oximeter attaches to a body part, such as finger, toes, or earlobe.

Pulse Oximetry Purpose and Uses

The main aim of pulse oximetry is to test and check how well your heart pumps oxygen through your body. The pulse oximeter is used to monitor the health of people who deal with certain conditions, which can affect the blood oxygen levels. Some of the most common conditions which have an effect on the blood oxygen levels include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, anemia, pneumonia, congenital heart defects, lung cancer, and heart attack.

Pulse oximetry is used to evaluate how helpful a ventilator is, determine whether someone needs help breathing, assess how well a new lung medication is working, monitor oxygen levels during or after surgical procedures that require sedation, determine the ability to tolerate increased physical activity, and monitor the effectiveness of supplemental oxygen therapy.

How Pulse Oximetry Works

As we mentioned before, the tests are conducted by wearing a small clamp-like device, which is usually placed on an earlobe, finger, or toe. It measures the changes of light absorption in oxygenated or deoxygenated blood by passing small beams of light through the blood in the finger. Fortunately, the process is painless. This device determines your oxygen saturation levels, as well as, your heart rate.

The process of using pulse oximeter is quite simple and non-invasive. First, the pulse oximeter is placed on your finger, toe or earlobe. You might feel a small pressure, but you won’t feel any pain. If the pulse oximeter is attached to your finger, you’ll have to remove the nail polish. This device will stay on your finger as long as needed, and when it’s done monitoring, it will be removed.

The results pulse oximetry readings show are very accurate. Hence, it is considered normal if you have an oxygen saturation level of 95 percent. If your levels are 92 percent, you might have hypoxemia.

After the test is done, your care provider will read the findings and tell you what you should do next.

Pulse Oximetry Benefits

This painless test comes with a myriad of benefits, especially for people with conditions that affect oxygen saturation. Pulse oximetry is often recommended for people who experience severe snoring or suspected sleep apnea. Moreover, this test is very beneficial for showing the effectiveness of breathing intervention, such as oxygen therapy and ventilators. Pulse oximetry is also great to determine how safe physical activity is for people with cardiovascular or respiratory problems. In this case, pulse oximetry might be used as part of a stress test. The test is also used for particularly vulnerable patients, such as infants in neonatal intensive care units.