Cool Medical Devices – The Pulse Oximeter
Recently, I had to take my wife to the hospital as she was having an asthma attack. When we showed up at the ER the nurse proceeded to measure the amount of oxygen in her blood using a pulse oximeter.
What's that?
Well, to be honest, before visiting the hospital, I had no idea what it was. Basically, it is an electronic device that clips onto your finger (notice I said clips, not pinches) that sends light from an LED bulb through your finger to a photodiode. This allows the monitor to calculate at any given time what the oxygen level of a patients blood is.
Why is it cool?
Really, the benefit is in the speed and simplicity of the device. Simply put it on the patients finger and you know the oxygen level in their blood in a short period of time. This replaces the old method of measuring the oxygen from a blood sample that required both a needle and more time.
For people like my wife who was suffering a asthma attack this is a blessing - it gives the doctor the information he needs quickly to make a diagnosis - and potentially save a life.
