Fingertip oxy. / pulse meter

gauss said:
So does anyone know if the Samsung phones have unique hardware to allow this?
I have a cheap ZTE android phone, and would also be interested in this capability.

I have a pulse oximeter on order that I have been anxiously awaiting for (to measure DM with dementia).
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I read that it works on some Android and some Apple phones, worth a try ??
 
gauss said:
So does anyone know if the Samsung phones have unique hardware to allow this?
I have a cheap ZTE android phone, and would also be interested in this capability.

I have a pulse oximeter on order that I have been anxiously awaiting for (to measure DM with dementia).
Click to expand...
Don't know but...

Tried the pulse oximeter and got 93% oxygen. My phone reading at the same time says 98%. Which one is wrong? Maybe both are. I'd tend to believe 93% as we have 20% less O2 at this altitude.
 
The Cosmic Avenger said:
Not quite. According to the Mayo Clinic, values under 90 are considered low. You should see a doctor mostly based on your symptoms, such as shortness of breath, but right now many hospital systems are above peak capacity, so if you are concerned about your spO2 but feel fine, please try to talk to a doctor or nurse on the phone first. Even before COVID-19, many health insurance providers offered "ask a nurse" services, and many doctors and health systems are now offering telemedicine.
Click to expand...

Good advice.
 
MRG said:
Don't know but...

Tried the pulse oximeter and got 93% oxygen. My phone reading at the same time says 98%. Which one is wrong? Maybe both are. I'd tend to believe 93% as we have 20% less O2 at this altitude.
Click to expand...
We spent a week in Santa Fe and Taos. The altitude is about 7000 feet. DW has COPD, and we visited an Oxygen bar to get her level up. According to a chart, because the partial pressure is lower at altitude, at 7000 feet it is the equivalent of 16% oxygen.
 
I got mine a few years ago to make sure we didn't get in trouble while at high altitude in Colorado. I really wanted to take DW up to the summit of a fourteener, since she has never done that.

But when we got to around 12,000 feet the meter showed somewhere in the 80s, and I decided we had gone high enough. She readily agreed.
 
Souschef said:
We spent a week in Santa Fe and Taos. The altitude is about 7000 feet. DW has COPD, and we visited an Oxygen bar to get her level up. According to a chart, because the partial pressure is lower at altitude, at 7000 feet it is the equivalent of 16% oxygen.
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Our house is at 7750'. There's a couple O2 bars around and they sell little bottles of O2 at Walmart and grocery stores.

When we go to the local hot springs there's frequently a tourist who had too much sun, heat, alcohol, and too little O2.

I didn't really feel any difference but I had issues with my hemoglobin and hematocrit going higher because of the thin air. My new PCP suggested a phlebotomy to reduce the numbers and keep me from having a stroke. Next morning was amazing, my breathing changed. Slower, deeper, more efficient. Bonus was after we moved here my BP went high and my prior PCP put me on metoprolol; I had to stop taking it post phlebotomy. I didn't have high BP, I had the wrong PCP. [emoji849]
 
MRG said:
When we go to the local hot springs there's frequently a tourist who had too much sun, heat, alcohol, and too little O2.
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I used to live around 6,000' and work above 7,000' so I was well used to it. Always found it highly amusing to watch what a little alcohol did to visiting flatlanders. They had no idea how it would affect them. :LOL:
 
At 5,280, I range from 94 to 97 -- checked quite regularly.

FWIW, one time at the doctor's office, the nurse put the thing on my finger and it read 92. I said that was a little low for me. She said take a couple deep breaths. I did and the reading went to 96.
 
The Cosmic Avenger said:
Not quite. According to the Mayo Clinic, values under 90 are considered low. You should see a doctor mostly based on your symptoms, such as shortness of breath, but right now many hospital systems are above peak capacity, so if you are concerned about your spO2 but feel fine, please try to talk to a doctor or nurse on the phone first. Even before COVID-19, many health insurance providers offered "ask a nurse" services, and many doctors and health systems are now offering telemedicine.
Click to expand...

Yes, my statement was misleading as I was trying to recall something posted on our neighborhood FB page about a month ago by a resident who is an emergency room Dr. regarding pulse ox meters. Here is his exact quote: "Basically presume you have COVID once it becomes ubiquitous in our community and you have flu like symptoms. The only thing that is really going to matter in the ER if you get admitted or sent home with the virus is your work of breathing and your oxygen saturation. So if your breathing is tolerable for you and your pulse ox reading is above 92 you can just relax at home. There will be no point going to the hospital bc you will be very likely sent home especially if otherwise a healthy adult or child."
 
braumeister said:
I used to live around 6,000' and work above 7,000' so I was well used to it. Always found it highly amusing to watch what a little alcohol did to visiting flatlanders. They had no idea how it would affect them. :LOL:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember there were little cans of beer called I believe "pony" cans that looked identical but were miniature versions. They were about half the size of the normal 12oz cans. At 7-8,000 the effects were the as the larger volume if you were a visitor.
 
One feature I like on mine is a "record" feature. CMA50D+


It lets you monitor over night, for instance. I had to tape it on, but then the next day I could see the graph of SpO2 and heart rate.


The instructions were supposed to be English, but I had to seek out native English speaker instructions on Amazon's review pages.
 
RonBoyd said:
FWIW, one time at the doctor's office, the nurse put the thing on my finger and it read 92. I said that was a little low for me. She said take a couple deep breaths. I did and the reading went to 96.
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Seems like the device can be a bit touchy. I had to finally give in and see my chiropractor yesterday, who was on a reduced work schedule with a limited number of patients. They required a test on the fingertip oxymeter. Anything less than 95 he wouldn't allow the appointment. Given the sensitivity of these meters, that seems a bit rigid. Then again, if someone did test low, he might do a re-test like the nurse had done for you.
 
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statsman said:
Seems like the device can be a bit touchy. I had to finally give in and see my chiropractor yesterday, who was on a reduced work schedule with a limited number of patients. They required a test on the fingertip oxymeter. Anything less than 95 he wouldn't allow the appointment. Given the sensitivity of these meters, that seems a bit rigid. Then again, if someone did test low, he might do a re-test like the nurse had done for you.
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That wasn't the device, that was RonBoyd's actual blood oxygenation, or the deep breathing wouldn't have changed it. If it was an artifact like skin damage on the finger pad or nail polish, it would have stayed off (maybe gone from 92 to 94, when it really should be going from 95 to 98).

Anyway, the Zacurate pulse oximeters I've used lately seem remarkably consistent. While there may be some cheap ones out there, I'd think the doctor would have a professional quality one.
 
Sounds like SpO2 is the new body temp. I think it's a good move!
 
statsman said:
Seems like the device can be a bit touchy. I had to finally give in and see my chiropractor yesterday...
Click to expand...
Thanks for that report about how the docs are on the ball wrt SpO2 to indicate early disease.

As to the accuracy, I have two devices...one I bought, and one came with some mountaineering goods package (I didn't even know it was part of the deal). They read within one point of each other consistently, but sometimes I'm lower (96) and sometimes higher (99). Of course I can change it with my breathing, but it's not just one number for me.

I'm going to put one on my bedside table and do a test every morning. I've already got an overnight recording as a baseline.
 
The Cosmic Avenger said:
..., but my spO2 doesn't usually vary by more than 4 or 5 points at most.
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Why would it vary at all? A fake device could output 98% with a random -1, 0, or +1 added to it and no one would be the wiser until they died.
 
LOL! said:
Why would it vary at all? A fake device could output 98% with a random -1, 0, or +1 added to it and no one would be the wiser until they died.
Click to expand...
It varies because it's an imperfect (but useful) tool that makes a measurement. Like every other measurement tool, there's a margin of error.

Wise people, like you and I and pretty much everybody on this board is going to hold their breath and see if it goes down. It was the very first thing I did when I got my first SpO2 device a few years back, hehe!
 
sengsational said:
It varies because it's an imperfect (but useful) tool that makes a measurement. Like every other measurement tool, there's a margin of error.

Wise people, like you and I and pretty much everybody on this board is going to hold their breath and see if it goes down. It was the very first thing I did when I got my first SpO2 device a few years back, hehe!
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Interesting. I've noticed I have been tightening up my breathing whenever I go out to a grocery store. As that this, in addition to my make-shift mask, will somehow help limit my intake of the air surrounding me. Very likely a misguided belief.

I did the same thing during the chiropractic appointment I mentioned before despite only having three patients inside the office (one in both, separate sitting areas, and one in the exam room). Plus I was caught off-guard by the SpO2 test, putting me much less than 6' distance from the technician. Throw in only 5-6 hours of sleep, and I figure the 97 for me was okay. Next time, I'll remember to breathe normally before and after entering the office.
 
My last visit to the doc, the nurse ended by putting a finger tip oxy meter on me. First time ever in 20 years I've been visiting, could it be I'm 20 years older?
 
The Cosmic Avenger said:
Not quite. According to the Mayo Clinic, values under 90 are considered low. You should see a doctor mostly based on your symptoms, such as shortness of breath, but right now many hospital systems are above peak capacity, so if you are concerned about your spO2 but feel fine, please try to talk to a doctor or nurse on the phone first. Even before COVID-19, many health insurance providers offered "ask a nurse" services, and many doctors and health systems are now offering telemedicine.
Click to expand...

We hospitalize children if pulse ox is less than 92%, and try to use therapies to maintain pulse 92% or above. If you wait until the pulse ox is below 90% consistently, you could be in serious trouble. Remember that your care will not be instantaneous when you arrive at the hospital, so you want to give yourself a safety cushion. The main thing is to call your doctor or the ER first; they don't want anyone walking into the ER waiting room with COVID-19.

Oxygen saturation is a reflection of the entire pathway of the oxygen absorption. What our body uses is dissolved oxygen, expressed as pO2, or partial pressure of oxygen. A healthy person breathing room air at sea level will have a pO2 of about 100 mmHg, and their arterial hemoglobin will be near 100% saturated. When the oxygen saturation falls below 88-90%, this represents a precipitous fall in the partial pressure of oxygen, which is what we our tissues use. The 92% cutoff gives us a window of safety. It is much easier to measure oxygen saturation than pO2. We used pO2 and pCO2 probes in the late 1980s, but they tended to slightly burn the skin, a huge problem in premature babies.

There are many things that can cause falsely low pulse oximetry reading, but common ones are poor positioning of the probe and poor perfusion (shock, or a cold finger, for example). If the pulse is not accurately detected, the probe will read low. Only two things cause falsely high readings: Sickle cell disease in a sickle crisis, and carbon monoxide poisoning. So to take a good reading, don't move around, hold your breath, or test cold fingers.

If you want to see what this curve looks like, google oxygen saturation curve. Also, I found an article suggesting that the Samsung phone pulse oximetry technology is fairly accurate for home use. If you feel absolutely fine there isn't much use for pulse oximetry. But symptoms and pulse oximetry together, even if slightly inaccurate, provide a good combination of information for the docs as well as yourself.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29215972
 
Time2 said:
My last visit to the doc, the nurse ended by putting a finger tip oxy meter on me. First time ever in 20 years I've been visiting, could it be I'm 20 years older?
Click to expand...
Our doc uses it every visit along with measuring BP and temperature.
 
To help better prepare for the inevitable, I ordered a ClinicalGuard CMS-50DL last week from Walmart ($38.95) and it arrived First Class mail in four days. I've been trying to obtain a solid oxygen baseline but the range is 94 to 99 while taken at rest throughout the days. Same for spouse. I suppose I'll have to begin a log and look for trends. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
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