
User Manual for Handheld Pulse Oximeter
42
II Common Knowledge
1 Meaning of SpO
2
SpO
2
is the saturation percentage of oxygen in the blood, so
called O
2
concentration in the blood; it is defined by the
percentage of oxyhemoglobin (HbO
2
) in the total hemoglobin
of the arterial blood. SpO
2
is an important physiological
parameter to reflect the respiration function; it is calculated by
the following method:
SpO
2
= HbO
2
/ (HbO
2
+Hb)×100%
HbO
2
are the oxyhemoglobins (oxygenized hemoglobin), Hb
are those hemoglobins which release oxygen.
2 Principle of Measurement
Based on Lamber-Beer law, the light absorbance of a given
substance is directly proportional with its density or
concentration. When the light with certain wavelength emits
on human tissue, the measured intensity of light after
absorption, reflecting and attenuation in tissue can reflect the
structure character of the tissue by which the light passes.
Due
to
that
oxygenated
hemoglobin
(HbO
2
)
and
deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb) have different absorption
character in the spectrum range from red to infrared light
(600nm~1000nm wavelength), by using these characteristics,
SpO
2
can be determined. SpO
2
measured by this oximeter is
the functional oxygen saturation -- a percentage of the
hemoglobin that can transport oxygen. In contrast,
hemoximeters report fractional oxygen saturation – a
percentage
of
all
measured
hemoglobin,
including
dysfunctional hemoglobin, such as carboxyhemoglobin or
metahemoglobin.