NIR transmittance pulse oximetry system with laser diodes

Abstract

A transmittance pulse oximetry system based on near-infrared laser diodes (LD) for monitoring arterial blood hemoglobin oxygen saturation (So2) has been previously reported. In this work we present the results obtained after improvements in the sensor configuration, signal processing algorithm and calibration procedure. The pulse oximetry system also comprises the sensor electronics, and a data acquisition board installed on a handheld personal computer. The two LD chips are mounted on a single metal heat-sink and as photo- detectors are used silicon p-i-n photodiodes with the first amplifier stage situated in their back side. The real time calculation of the parameters related to So2 is carried out through a numeric separation of the pulsatile and non- pulsatile components of the photoplethysmographic signals for both wavelengths and a non-linear filtering. Patients with respiratory failure conditions were monitored as a part of the calibration procedure in order to cover a wide range of So2-values. A calibration curve have been derived through the determination of in vitro arterial So2 with a significant quantity of experimental points ranging from 60 to almost 100%. The obtained results demonstrate that it is possible to apply the proposed system to monitoring a wide range of oxygen saturation levels.