Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Pulse Oximeter Technology Meets Bluetooth And Wireless Capabilities by Jacob Walters


Years ago, pulse oximeter technology was extremely new and quite revolutionary in the field of medicine. Here was a device that would offer continuous, accurate readings of pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation of individuals while they were in the hospital settings. The device was fantastic and truly created a whole segment for itself in the medical device and equipment field. Then, after that there came another innovation that again shocked the health world. The advent of the portable pulse oximeter devices. The portable devices were made possible because of new chip technology. This chip technology allowed the device to not only be built to be smaller but also improved the cost of the device as well. By becoming smaller the device could not be a wireless and portable device. The previous generations of the device were definitely not mobile. They were large and heavy and actually manufactured for the hospital setting and to remain in one room. This proved to be difficult as many individuals with various health concerns needed to monitor their health and vital signs while not in the hospital setting. These people had to go to work or even to vacation but at the same time they still needed to monitor their health in order to ensure that they were operating at optimal health. The new portable pulse oximeter devices provided such a convenience. The ability to travel and go anywhere you desired to go without the worry that you were not able to be at your physician’s office in order to monitor your health. That was quite revolutionary and truly changed the medical device market. However, there now is another innovation that again is changing the medical device market.

The newest member of the pulse oximeter family is the Bluetooth and wireless capable devices. These devices come with a built in Bluetooth capabilities that will allow the device to wireless transmit data to any other location that accepts the Bluetooth capability. So why is this significant you ask? Well the main reason is that it allows for the quick sharing of information from your device to your health care professional. Lets say for example you are suffering for a heart or lung condition that requires you to monitor your health constantly with the use of a pulse oximeter. Well the problem is that you may take your device home but not exactly know how to judge the readings you get. Well with the use of a pulse oximeter device with Bluetooth you can have your device connected to your physician’s central patient monitoring system. If at anytime your specific readings fall below a level that is unhealthy then you physician will be alerted as such and will be able to take the appropriate steps to remediate the situation. What this does in fact is to bring your physician right into your home. So while you are in the comfort of your own home you are at the same time in contact with your physician and he is able to judge whether you are functioning at optimal health.

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