Pulse Oximeter

Introduction
• Pulse oximeters measure how much of the
hemoglobin in blood is carrying oxygen
(oxygen saturation).
• Pulse oximeters measure oxygen saturation.
• The hemoglobin without oxygen we will call
de oxygenated hemoglobin (deoxy Hb). The hemoglobin with oxygen, we will
call oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy Hb).
• Oxygen saturation simply refers to the percentage of the available hemoglobin
that carries oxygen. Take the situations below. There are 16 hemoglobin units
and none of the 16 has oxygen. The oxygen saturation is therefore 0 %.

• If 8 of the 16 Hb have oxygen. The oxygen saturation is Therefore 50 %.

Similarity75%, and of course, when all the Hb has oxygen, the saturation is100%

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 • Hemoglobin (Hb) absorbs light.
• The amount of light absorbed is proportional to the concentration of Hb in the
blood vessel.
• Each single Hb absorbs some of the light, so more the Hb per unit area, more
is the light is absorbed.
• This property is described in a law in physics called “Beer’s Law”.
• Beer’s Law: Amount of light absorbed is proportional to the concentration of
the light absorbing substance.
• By measuring how much light reaches the light detector, the pulse oximeter
knows how much light has been absorbed. More the Hb in the finger more is
the light absorbed.

A- photoplethysmogram (PPG)
• A PPG is often obtained by using a pulse Oximeter which illuminates the
skin and measures changes in light absorption.
• Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a noninvasive method to
detect the changes of blood volume in living tissue by
photoelectricity.
• A light source (e.g. LED) transmits light through a
capillary bed (e.g. fingertip or ear lobe) and photodetectors
(e.g. phototransistor) are placed appropriately to measure
the reflected and/or transmitted light

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 • With each beat of the heart, arterial blood pressure rises (systole period) and
the extremities increase: (slightly) in physical size. In addition, increased
oxygenation decreases the optical density of
surface tissue. During the heart's period of
relaxation (diastole period),
• Each cardiac cycle appears as a peak.
• Even though this pressure pulse is somewhat
damped by the time it reaches the skin, it is
enough to distend the arteries and arterioles in
the subcutaneous tissue
• The change in volume caused by the pressure
pulse is detected by illuminating the skin with
the light from a light-emitting diode (LED) and
then measuring the amount of light either
transmitted or reflected to a photodiode.

• Each cardiac cycle appears as a peak, as seen in

the figure.

B- Block Diagram of Finometer

-LED is infrared (light

source)
-Band pass filter (high pass +
Low pass)
-Sensor (Photo-Diode or
Photo- Resistor or Photo-
Transistor)

C- Blood Pressure: When your heart beats, it pumps blood round your body to
give it the energy and oxygen it needs. As the blood moves, it pushes against the
sides of the blood vessels. The strength of this pushing is your blood pressure

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Components of traditional blood pressure device:
1-Rubber Cuff 2-bump 3-mercury meter 4-Stethoscope

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