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| pulse oximeter for health monitoring? |
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| Buriedcode:
Be careful. With these things the accuracy can be questionable ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27089002 ), but it is mostly the interpretation of the measurements that matters, and thats why doctors with experience will be more qualified than a laymen, or someone who has googled for 10 minutes. Single data points of things like pulse, O2 sat, and blood pressure can't really tell you much. It is trends in these things that matter more - sustained high blood pressure, or O2 sat <95% regularly. We live in a golden age of health monitoring, with pretty cheap and reasonably accurate sensors widely available. Whilst its a boon for companies to have access to this data, this has also increased health anxiety as people forget there can be a pretty wide variation in measurements. What was the question? |
| JBeale:
The question I had in mind, is whether periodic measurements from a cheap pulse oximeter can be used to detect reduced pulmonary function, for example, due to viral inflammation, before things get critical. Eg. could you use it in the same way people use a fever thermometer. to check for indications of possible disease. Esp. if you suspect the condition you're trying to detect does not always cause a fever. The answer appears to be: the sensor isn't very sensitive to small variations, so it would not be an early-warning system, more like a too-late warning system. |
| Buriedcode:
--- Quote from: JBeale on March 29, 2020, 08:52:44 pm ---The question I had in mind, is whether periodic measurements from a cheap pulse oximeter can be used to detect reduced pulmonary function, for example, due to viral inflammation, before things get critical. Eg. could you use it in the same way people use a fever thermometer. to check for indications of possible disease. Esp. if you suspect the condition you're trying to detect does not always cause a fever. The answer appears to be: the sensor isn't very sensitive to small variations, so it would not be an early-warning system, more like a too-late warning system. --- End quote --- And even if it was sensitive to small variations - heart rate is pretty easy to measure accurately - how would you know it indicates any kind of viral infection? My point was, measuring things is easy, but knowing what those measurements mean is the hard part. Also, say if your heart rate increased when you were unwell, does that happen to everyone? and by the same amount? This is the problem with lots of health monitoring, it is assumed that because it is now much easier to measure lots of things, we can translate that into very meaningful and helpful action to take. Sure, if you're heart rate is 140 all the time, thats probably bad, but trends and subtle variations could mean any number of things. It would be nice if there was a way to detect infection using heart rate, an ECG or something, but I am unaware of any. With all that said, there is nothing wrong with taking regular measurements and plotting the results for your own interests. But the person who should be interpreting those results should be a (your) physician. If you're looking at O2 sats to measure lung function, by the time you get readings low enough to be worried about - you'll probably already feel quite short of breath, if its consistent then that might show a problem. |
| thinkfat:
--- Quote from: JBeale on March 29, 2020, 08:52:44 pm ---The question I had in mind, is whether periodic measurements from a cheap pulse oximeter can be used to detect reduced pulmonary function, for example, due to viral inflammation, before things get critical. Eg. could you use it in the same way people use a fever thermometer. to check for indications of possible disease. Esp. if you suspect the condition you're trying to detect does not always cause a fever. The answer appears to be: the sensor isn't very sensitive to small variations, so it would not be an early-warning system, more like a too-late warning system. --- End quote --- Our son has had pneumonia two times in the last three years and we bought a pulse oximeter for being able to more frequently monitor his saturation levels. After the first time, which got pretty severe because the condition was not detected properly (asymptomatic case, no or low fever, just cough and snotty nose), we caught it early the second time because we knew the pattern already and checked saturation levels regularly. The saturation went below 90% and we took him to the hospital. The values measured there confirmed what our meter displayed. So, it can be useful. I bought another meter for my parents for them to check on their levels regularly. |
| mzzj:
I had mild lower respiratory tract infection(covid??) 2 weeks ago, pulse oximeter was showing about 94-95% readings on the worst days when chest was feeling heavy and I felt exhausted even by just standing. Now back to 98% Same for my friend who had probably same infection going on at the same time. Adults can probably "gauge" their feeling better but it might be useful with kids that are harder to interpret. Doctor was interested if I can hold my breath for 10 seconds, apparently its some sort of indication about how bad shape you are in. |
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