Pulse Oximeters and the COVID19 Pandemic
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by
David Tughan
Oxygen saturation has become an indispensable tool to ensure safety in operating rooms and to triage patients. In the COVID19 pandemic, pulse oximeters have become especially relevant in helping doctors stratify which patients have dangerously low levels of oxygen. It is the standard to determine if patients need oxygen supplementation and when more serious interventions, like intubation and ventilation, is needed.
Around the world, tens of thousands of operating rooms are missing this life saving device. Limited access in low-resource healthcare systems put millions of lives at risk. Lifebox® is a is working to change this reality by increasing access to pulse oximetry.
You can read more about the invention, adoption, and innovation in pulse oximetry here:
Betty Zhang (medical student, McMaster)
