Pulse oximetry--a non-invasive method for direct and continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation and pulse rate--comparative studies with blood gas analysis and hemoreflectometry in the dog, swine and sheep

The use of pulse oximeters as a non-invasive, real time and online method for the continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation is discussed and compared to other methods like hemoreflectometry, and blood gas analysis. Analyses of linear regression show extraordinarily good correlations between all three monitoring systems. Pulse oximetry and hemoreflectometry on the one hand and blood gas analysis on the other hand sometimes show quite differing values of oxygen saturation. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the measuring methods are based on different working principles as well as it can be explained by the various hemoglobin-types. The pulse rate also measured by the pulse oximeter is nearly completely identical to the heart rate of the ECG. A slight temporal delay between the two acoustic signals is noticed and justified. Pulse oximetry seems to be superior to other oxygen monitoring systems because of its continuous noninvasive measuring technique.