One of the most important vital signs in clinical settings is the oxygen saturation level (SpO2) of a patient’s blood. It doesn’t matter if you’re breathing and your heart is beating if the oxygen isn’t getting to your blood and being distributed throughout your body. One company that makes pulse oximeters for clinical settings is Masimo, and at CES 2015, they announced the MightSat, a device intended for consumer use.
The device comes in three models. All measure oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI) measurements. The MightySat clamps onto your fingertip, and relies on multiple wavelengths of light shining through the finger to detect the blood and its movement. One model adds Bluetooth connectivity so that the results can be sent to an app on either iOS or Android smartphones. A third model adds the ability to monitor the blood flow variability from one respiratory cycle to another.
The MightySat runs on standard AAA batteries, which are rated to last up to 15 hours. It is designed to work in “challenging” environments. It will likely appeal to elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts, but could also be useful for a broad range of users who might want to monitor their blood oxygen levels for a variety of reasons.
