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Pulse Oximeters
Pulse oximeters are medical devices that
combines two functions into one: measuring
pulse rates and the oxygen saturation level
in body tissue.
Some uses include:
- detecting hypoxia (lack of oxygen) by pilots
and mountain climbers. Hypoxia
can cause
vision impairment, headaches,
confusion,
and fatigue, and if it is severe
enough,
unconsciousness and death.
At higher altitudes,
blood oxygen saturation decreases,
since
there is less oxygen available
in the air.
Hypoxia, defined as a deficiency
of oxygen
reaching the tissues of the
body, is now
a risk. For healthy people,
the effects of
less oxygen usually kick in
at 12,500 feet.
Health and lifestyle factors
like drinking,
smoking, age and weight gain
can amplify
the effects of reduced oxygen
content, revealing
symptoms of hypoxia at altitudes
as low as
4,000 feet.
- monitoring for medical conditions that cause
your blood to carry too little
oxygen.
Pulse oximeters are non-invasive
and work
by focusing red and infrared
light on a thin
portion of the body, such as
fingertips and
ear lobes. They then calculate
the fluctuations
in the light signal to determine
pulse rate,
and compare the absorption of
the red and
infrared light signals to calculate
blood
oxygen saturation. |
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