pulse oximeter

noun

plural pulse oximeters

: a noninvasive medical device that utilizes spectrophotometry to measure the oxygen saturation of circulating arterial blood in an individual by determining the percentage of oxygenated hemoglobin pulsating through a network of blood capillaries by way of a sensor attached typically to a finger, toe, or earlobe

Your pulse oximeter will give you a numerical reading—a percentage that indicates the level of oxygen saturation in your blood.

—Tara Parker-Pope

Examples of pulse oximeter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Regulatory changes could help ensure that pulse oximeters provide accurate results for all patients. —Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 21 Oct. 2024

Keeping a pocket-sized pulse oximeter at home is easy, but checking yourself in for a night’s sleep study is hard. —Adrienne So, WIRED, 17 Sep. 2024

Apple did make the Series 10 thinner, which is welcome but not necessarily as important as oxygen sensing, which Apple Watches still lack due to the Masimo pulse oximeter lawsuit. —Anshel Sag, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024

Some pulse oximeter manufacturers say their devices work accurately on all skin tones. —Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1984, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

pulse oximeter

noun

: a noninvasive medical device that utilizes spectrophotometry to measure the oxygen saturation of circulating arterial blood in an individual by determining the percentage of oxygenated hemoglobin pulsating through a network of blood capillaries by way of a sensor attached typically to a finger, toe, or earlobe

Note: The pulse oximeter typically sounds an alarm if the blood saturation becomes less than optimal.

Pulse oximeters measure hemoglobin oxygen saturation via an external probe. The light of two varying wavelengths passes through the skin, and the difference in absorbance by arterial blood of these two wavelengths by the photodetector within the pulse oximeter is used to calculate the level of oxygenation.

—Pediatric Emergency Medicine Reports