A pulse oximeter is the device used in pulse oximetry, a noninvasive method for monitoring the oxygen saturation of a patient's blood, and its readings, called peripheral oxygen saturation or SpO2, are typically accurate to within two percent of a direct arterial blood oxygen measurement. The device passes two wavelengths of light through the tissue, usually a fingertip, to a photodetector, and by tracking how the light absorption changes with each heartbeat it distinguishes oxygenated from deoxygenated hemoglobin and calculates the percentage of blood oxygen saturation. The Japanese bioengineers Takuo Aoyagi and Michio Kishi developed the first pulse oximeter in 1972 at the Japanese medical equipment maker Nihon Kohden, working out the ratio of red to infrared light absorption in the pulsating blood at the measurement site.
Facts
SignificancePulse oximetry reached the United States market through commercial pulse oximeters sold by Biox starting in 1980 and by Nellcor starting in 1983, moves that helped establish pulse oximetry as a standard noninvasive monitor in American hospitals. 1 FAQs
How was the pulse oximeter discovered?
It was found in 1972 while improving equipment that measured arterial blood, when engineers saw that the heart's pulse could be used to measure oxygen saturation.
The discovery came while improving equipment for measuring arterial blood pumped from the heart. According to Nihon Kohden, the company where Takuo Aoyagi worked, in 1972 its engineers found that the oxygen saturation of arterial blood can be measured by using the pulse of the heart. This is why the device can report blood oxygen continuously without drawing a blood sample.
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Source Pulse oximetry - Wikipedia
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1. Pulse oximetry - Wikipedia
History section, Aoyagi and Kishi paragraph
The first pulse oximeter was developed in 1972 by Japanese bioengineers Takuo Aoyagi and Michio Kishi at Japanese medical electronic equipment manufacturer Nihon Kohden, using the ratio of red to infrared light absorption of pulsating components at the measuring site.
History section, US market entry paragraph
In the U.S., the first pulse oximeter was commercialized by Biox in 1980, followed later by Nellcor in 1983.
In Field: Biomedical Engineering, Categories
Cardiology
In Group: Patient Monitoring and Diagnostic Instruments, Lead paragraph
Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive method for monitoring blood oxygen saturation.
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