Pulse oximeters do not directly read oxygen. They use light absorption to approximate how much hemoglobin is oxygenated or deoxygenated. The de/oxygenation changes the light absorption (its why arterial blood is bright red and venous blood is darker). That is then converted by mathematical algorithm to a estimate of oxygenation the “reading”.
This is stating essentially that in black skinned people the changes in light absorption because of the skin color results in the algorithm giving a falsely higher reading than is actually present in the patient.
The math will have to be fixed in some way for black people to receive appropriate care. Whether that is a device unaffected by skin color or different math based on skin color needs to be figured out.
Pulse oximeters do not directly read oxygen. They use light absorption to approximate how much hemoglobin is oxygenated or deoxygenated. The de/oxygenation changes the light absorption (its why arterial blood is bright red and venous blood is darker). That is then converted by mathematical algorithm to a estimate of oxygenation the “reading”.
This is stating essentially that in black skinned people the changes in light absorption because of the skin color results in the algorithm giving a falsely higher reading than is actually present in the patient.
The math will have to be fixed in some way for black people to receive appropriate care. Whether that is a device unaffected by skin color or different math based on skin color needs to be figured out.
Oh. I get it now. Good explanation, thanks.