Hi. I am a respiratory therapist with horrible Asthma.
I used pulse ox's daily when I was working.
We did pulmonary stress test on patients who were having SOB during activity, starting pukmonary rehab or just because the doctor ordered them...lol to that.
What I found annoying was the finger probe. They come off too easy. Even the wrap around type probes will not stick when someone is sweating. Also, any movement skews the reading. If someone is moving their body, exercising, your reading is going to not be accurate.
Our hospital had a few of the pulse ox's that used forehead probes. They were much better. You put them on the forehead and they were held in place by a headband. We used those for patients doing 6 minute walk tests and patients with poor circulation. They work really well.
The you have the ear probe,which I never found to give an accurate reading. The SAO2 never matched the SAo2 on the ABG that we would draw.
If you could design a pulse ox that did not require a wire from the probe to the reading unit...you'd be a millionaire! for real! That wire is a pain in the arse. Oh shoot, they already have a finger type one like that. However, it is spring loaded and does not endure long without falling off.
Can't type anymore right now...bet you are glad. I do have a little bit more to add,if you are interested.
