Because elderly people infected with novel coronavirus tend to experience "silent hypoxia" by swiping their finger across screen, pulse oximeter continues to attract attention. And with a shortage of blood oxygen detectors, consumers are turning to smart wearables that also claim to measure blood oxygen saturation. “Due to technical limitations, blood oxygen measurement function of smart bracelet cannot fully replace professional medical oximeter,” a representative from wearable device manufacturer replied.
However, in case of emergency use, some users have been fortunate enough to detect hypoxemia through smart bracelet's blood oxygen data and seek medical attention in time to avoid danger. “A few days ago my father got infected with a new crown and felt chest tightness and discomfort. Therefore, my parents and I used same smart bracelet for observation, and we all strictly followed standard posture indicated in instruction manual. measurements given by my mother and me showed that both have more than 95%, and my father always has less than 90%. We rushed to hospital and doctor's examination showed that he had hypoxemia, which was dangerous, so he gave oxygen immediately, and now my father is not in danger.”
People's Daily Health customer named Huawei, Xiaomi, Apple and other smart wearable device manufacturers as consumers. Support staff were more cautious, saying that current blood oxygen measurement of smart wearable devices produced by company. The data cannot be used for diagnostic/medical purposes, only for daily fitness and health scenarios.
Take Apple Watch Apple watch S6 as an example. According to a study published in Digital Health, cited by 36 Krypton, average deviation between Apple Watch S6 and a standard medical oximeter is about 1.2%; 90%. , deviation of monitoring results from medical grade is within 8%, when oxygen level in blood is 90%-100%, monitoring deviation is within 6%.
In this regard, Sun Peipei, deputy head physician of Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Shougan Hospital, pointed out that if data measured by smart bracelet is lower than actual data, it will easily lead to unnecessary stress and treatment; if actual) is too large, it may hide disease.
Sun Peipei said that "silent hypoxia" often occurs in elderly. Even if a pulse oximeter is not available, family members can observe whether older people's external signs indicate hypoxia. If an elderly person develops symptoms such as lethargy, cyanotic lips, shortness of breath and inability to eat, this indicates that elderly person may have hypoxia and should seek medical attention as soon as possible. (Wang Yuan, Qiu Yue)
Source: People's Da clientily Health