You’re walking down the street and all of a sudden you feel out of breath. Your knees go weak and you feel as if you are going to faint. You stop to gulp in some air and decide that you’re feeling too woozy to go to your next appointment. You decide, instead, to go to the hospital just to make sure you’re A-okay and to get rid of that sick and nagging feeling you have in the back of your mind. You get to the hospital and the first thing you tell the doctor is your feeling of not being able to breathe. Chances are, you will be hooked up to a blood oxygen sensor.
Types of Blood Oxygen Sensors
Blood Oxygen Sensor: A blood oxygen sensor is a medical device that has the ability to measure the oxygen saturation in a person’s blood. One such blood oxygen sensor, the pulse oximeter, is more commonly used for its non-invasive way of measuring.
Pulse Oximeter: A pulse oximeter measures the oxygen in a person’s blood and changes in blood volume in a person’s skin without having to take a blood sample. It is often connected to a medical monitor and this enables doctors and nurses to literally see a person’s oxygenation as long as he or she is connected to it. These monitors also display a person’s heart rate along with the person’s oxygenation. If a person has no pulse or a pulse is not detected by the pulse oximeter, it will not be able to function as it should. A monitor of blood oxygen shows the percentage of arterial hemoglobin within oxyhemoglobin.
If you want to monitor the oxygen in your blood without having to go to the hospital or clinic too often, you have the option of purchasing a portable and battery operated pulse oximeter. This was invented and made available precisely for enabling you to monitor your blood oxygen even at home.