finger pulse oximeter

Used mine for the first time this weekend. Interestingly, at 8,000 mine was reading 96% (ground level I'm normally around 98%). My wife's was 94% and she has the same ground level reading. I'm an occasional cigar smoker and my wife gave up smoking 27 years ago. She was wondering why hers was lower.
 
lancefisher said:
I don't think you need to fly high to compare readings either, just hold your breath, or breathe in a bag. OTOH holding your breath may show big differences if there is different filtering or averaging in the readings between the two devices unless you can maintain a sub-normal reading for a few minutes.
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Lance,
My wife suggested just the other day I put a plastic bag over my head for a few hours. Is that the same thing? :hairraise:
 
gibbons said:
Lance,
My wife suggested just the other day I put a plastic bag over my head for a few hours. Is that the same thing? :hairraise:
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Just make sure you have your oximeter on! ;)
 
rfbdorf said:
A guy on the Cessna Pilots Association forums set up this deal on finger pulse oximeters - $145 including shipping; normally $199. The company made a special price for available to AOPA and CPA members, that looks good to me. I have no relation to this company, other than having just sent in my order for one.

http://www.turnermedical.com/pilot-special.htm

- Richard
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Thanks for the heads up about this deal. I just purchased two of them. One for my dad and another for myself.:yes: :yes: :yes:
 
Not only does a pulse oximeter not measure carbon monoxide poisoning, it works in the opposite direction: a person with CO poisoning will show a falsely high reading on the pulse oximeter; in theory, you could be hypoxic and have CO poisoning at the same time and show a perfectly normal result on the oximeter. So you could argue you need a CO detector even more if you're using a pulse oximeter. At a real-world level, I doubt many lives would be saved or lost by acting on that principle. But nobody should forego the cheap insurance ($10-20 every couple of years) of having a CO indicator in the cockpit, regardless of whether they use a pulse oximeter.

Hunter (MD, not AME)
 
Wonder what this means on the site pj posted?

Not suitable for import to the U.S.A.
 
ejensen said:
Wonder what this means on the site pj posted?

Not suitable for import to the U.S.A.
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It says
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FDA certification is not available, thus it is restricted from sale in the United States. US buyers are advised to check with US customs on import restrictions.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
 
gibbons said:
I had a chance to use my pulse oximeter for the first time on my last trip. I'm concerned that it's not working properly.

On the way out my wife and I both took several readings. Because of strong west winds we flew much of the trip at 4,500' and both got readings from 96% to 98%. On the way home we flew the entire trip above 11,000',with substantial portions at 14,000'. Neither of our readings ever got below 91% and most were in the 95% - 98% range.

I'm having a hard time believing these readings given we spent a good deal of time up high, but I've got no baseline.

Any thoughts?
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Yes, did you look at your heart rates? I've never gotten anywhere near 90% even at 12,500'. I think the lowest O2 level I've ever reached was about 95% and that was at the altitudes where I start pulling out my oxygen. But what does happen is my heart rate goes up, from normally around 62-65 to the high 70s. I use my heart rate as an indicator of when I should put on oxygen, not the blood saturation levels.

I am a woman, 57 years old, in pretty good shape (I can bicycle vigorously up and down steep hills for at least 20 miles--I haven't tried going longer), non-smoker, about 20 lbs overweight, according to BMI, although I may be one of those people for whom the BMI isn't all that useful. I also spent a LOT of time at high altitudes--hiking and backpacking--when I was young, and still often make forays into the mountains by land and air.

A cardiologist friend of mine said that my body's way of dealing with low oxygen--that is, raising the heart rate to keep the oxygen levels up--is quite common.

So I think your pulsoximeter is working fine, and you and your wife just have that kind of physiology.

Judy
 
Judy, there are many for whom relative hypoxia will not or cannot raise the heart rate. There are some common antihypertensive medications that will interfere with this as well. Certainly I would no rely on the heart rate going up in the 70 year old pilot, as a illness called, "sick sinus syndrome" becomes very common in that age group.

They've certainly hit the price point, though!!
 
judypilot said:
A cardiologist friend of mine said that my body's way of dealing with low oxygen--that is, raising the heart rate to keep the oxygen levels up--is quite common.

So I think your pulsoximeter is working fine, and you and your wife just have that kind of physiology.

Judy
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Yup.. what you are describing is one of mechanisms the body can use to keep "Oxygen Delivery" (D02) constant. If the body cant extract MORE from a given parcel of blood, it picks up the flow, so that more parcels of blood are pumped by, for oxygen extraction... increasing cardiac output increased Delivery of Oxygen (D02)

some trivia

Each hemoglobin molecule holds 4 oxygen molecule. The first one is relatively easy to pull off.. the next one.. quite difficult.. the last two are damn near impossible to cleave.. So typical human oxygenated blood has 4 oxy's per hemoglobin, and is 100% saturated.. and typical mixed venous blood tends to have an average of 3 oxy's per hemoglobin and is on average, saturated at 75%.

Something that is lost on a lot of our medical rookies is that when you see someones sats that low.. as in 75% on the arterial side.. by and large the oxygen isn't being released to the tissues, its just along for a ride around the circuit..

I encourage each and every one of you who use oxygen in flight to look at and understand the oxyhemoglobin saturation curve http://www.google.com/search?q=oxyh...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

(click on some of those graphics)..

and understand just how quickly oxygen content/partial pressure in the blood drops off tremendously/steeply below about 91%...

There are also conditions that adversely affect the curve, but honestly if they are manifesting you are too sick to fly anyways.... except as a patient..
 
gismo said:
Dave, did you realize you were answering questions posed 2-1/2 years ago?
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He probably does, but a marketer(?) resurrected the thread. That said, an oximeter is a Good Thing to have when flying at or above 10,000', whether you have an O2 system or not!
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Prices keep dropping. Just picked one up for $34.99 (free two day shipping on my Amazon.com Prime account). Nice. :thumbsup:
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That was the price at the local Walgreen's for one I bought a couple of months ago.
 
I prefer the SPO medical's oximeters over the nonin simply for fact that SPO medical is only company to use RPO technology instead of TPO... That Turner medical site has the SPO oximeters as well... My new SPO oximeter was much cheaper then the matching nonin and the RPO is better with motion and much longer battery life.

Here is some info on the RPO tedchnology that i found on some site...

Details of technology built into SPO medical's Pulse Oximeters...
Reflective Pulse Oximetry (RPO) – Meet the new standard in blood pulse oximetry. Unlike the traditional “Translucent Pulse Oximetry” (TPO), RPO reflects light off the bone as opposed to shining a light through external extremities such as the finger or earlobe.
- 1/50th power consumption
- Highly accurate sensors
- Nail polish / fake nail tolerant
- Aids in reduction of low profusion and motion artifacts
- Readings can be attained from new areas of the body such as the forehead and palm
- Meters are comfortable, compact, and lightweight
- Works on any finger, including an adult thumb
- Unaffected by dark skin tones

AutoSpot™ – Introducing the world’s leading technology in dramatically reducing low profusion in blood pulse oximetry. AutoSpot™ electronically adjusts the intensity of the LED in situations of low profusion while still maintaining battery efficiency. When combined with the patented reflective technique, it makes for unprecedented accuracy.

Proprietary Motion Artifact Reduction – A combination of different technologies within PulseOx™ products compensate for motion artifacts. You will notice that the motion artifacts are substantially less frequent than those of all other oximeters on the market.
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In clinical use, there is just about no difference. Both technologies read through nail polish and motion.

They both stumble if you are in atrial fibrillation.

Just buy the cheapest one you can find, and GET one.
 
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