Pulse oximetry is a test which determines the oxygen level (oxygen saturation) in your blood. This is an easy and painless method which shows how well oxygen is being sent to parts of your body furthest from your heart, such as the arms and legs, and it’s a clear indicator of your overall health.

What’s great about pulse oximetry is that there is no use of a needle or other instrument that pierces the skin. Instead, it uses a probe or sensor that is placed on the forehead, earlobe, or fingertip to show your blood oxygen levels.

If you have a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a common lung disease, your doctor will use pulse oximetry to determine whether you need and how much of supplemental oxygen you need. If the condition gets worse, pulse oximetry will determine if you should be hospitalized.

Pulse oximetry is a commonly used test which provides useful information. It can be used to monitor your blood oxygen levels during or after sedation for surgery and to detect times when a person's breathing stops when testing for sleep apnea.

How Does Pulse Oximetry Work?

Your blood contains hemoglobin, which carries oxygen molecules from your lungs to where they're needed in your body. By using pulse oximetry, it is measured how much of the hemoglobin in your blood is carrying oxygen, and how much is not.

The probe of the pulse oximeter features a probe which comes with a light in specific wavelengths to measure oxygen saturation of your hemoglobin. The hemoglobin which carries oxygen absorbs this light differently than hemoglobin which doesn’t. So, the data which the probe collects will show the difference.

The normal oxygen saturation levels range between 95% to 100%. So, people who have asthma, heart failure, COPD, and pneumonia are likely to have lower oxygen saturation levels. The results from the pulse oximetry test are crucial for monitoring supplemental oxygen therapy.

This test is very accurate that it’s often used instead of the oxygen saturation test, known as arterial blood gas analysis.

Where Is Pulse Oximetry Performed?

As we mentioned before, pulse oximetry is a simple and non-invasive test, and as such, it can be performed almost anywhere, including your home or your doctor's office. You can buy a wearable pulse oximetry monitor for your wrist. This device will track your blood oxygen levels around the clock and potentially alert your physician if the levels fall too low.

The Uses of Pulse Oximetry in Medicine

Pulse oximetry has a number of uses in medicine. In fact, pulse oximetry is used in the following situations:

• During or after surgery or procedures that use sedation;
• When checking a person’s ability to handle increased activity levels;
• Seeing how well lung medicines are working;
• Determining whether a ventilator is needed to help with breathing;
• Checking whether a person has sleep apnea;

Additionally, pulse oximeters are of good use for checking the health of a person who has a condition that affects blood oxygen levels, including heart failure, heart attack, anemia, COPD, asthma, lung cancer, and pneumonia.

Nevertheless, when using a pulse oximeter make sure there isn’t an incorrect reading, which happens if the probe falls off the earlobe, toe, or finger. It is also possible to experience some skin irritation from the adhesive on the probe.