Pulse Oximeter Answers and ReviewsMultilingual Support: Spanish Portuguese French Dutch German Japanese Russian Chinese Korean Welcome to OximeterReviews.com Your resource for information, resource links and consumer reviews about Pulse Oximeters for consumers. There are hundreds of pulse oximeters available for purchase on-line and through durable medical equipment (DME) resellers. The choices are enormous and that leads to consumer confusion. Factors such as health monitoring need, budget, and where the pulse oximeter is used play a role and should be considered into your buying decision. Comment from Website Writers: The purpose of this website is to help gather internet resources into one location to help the internet shopper make the right buying decision. The site is home to surveys and links to other web resources. Before you purchase a oximeter, you should do your homework. This site is here to help. We are website writers who want to help you find the right resources for your questions about pulse oximeters. In order to keep this forum a free resource. We do allow advertising. If we get a complaint from a consumer about any of the retailers/manufactures that advertise on this site, we will remove them immediately. To suggest new content, ask a question or to report a complaint about a advertiser please email us at writer@oximeterreviews.com. February Oximeter Reviews Sponsor: Price Medical GroupParticipate in Oximeter Buyers Survey. (Posted 1/18/10) Learn from other buyers. All individuals that complete the survey will receive the results at the survey. Click Here to take survey
Frequently Asked Questions What is Pulse Oximetery? A sensor is placed on a thin part of the patient's anatomy, usually a fingertip. A light containing both red and infrared wavelengths is passed from one side to the other. Changing absorbance of each of the two wavelengths is measured, allowing determination of the absorbance due to the pulsing arteria blood alone, excluding venous blood, skin, bone, muscle, fat, and (in most cases) fingernail polish. Based upon the ratio of changing absorbance of the red and infrared light caused by the difference in color between oxygen-bound (bright red) and oxygen unbound (dark red or blue, in severe cases) blood hemoglobin, a measure of oxygenation (the per cent of hemoglobin molecules bound with oxygen molecules) can be made. What types of oximeters are there? In the consumer market there is primarily 2. The fingertip pulse oximeter and handheld pulse oximeter. Why would I need a pulse oximeter? There are 3 main reasons for using a pulse oximeter. Patients: On oxygen therapy to help mange their oxygen flow. Patients with condition such as COPD, CHF and Asthma. Athletes: Health and Wellness. For hikers or climbers at higher altitudes and for athletes who want another fitness diagnostic Pilots: Prevention of in-flight hypoxia Are all oximeters equal in quality and durability? No. The old saying still goes. "You get what you pay for". Many low priced oximeters have durability issues. They break after a drop from 2 to 3 feet to the floor. We recommend that you narrow your search to manufacturers in your home country. If you purchase a device and if anything goes wrong, it will be easier to seek warranty servicing. Take a look at the videos from Nonin Medical based in Minnesota, USA. Nonin has filmed a drop test of their product in comparison to a foreign product. Where can I purchase a pulse oximeter? You can buy from an on-line retailer or with a durable medical equipment (DME) reseller. Because of the competitive nature of the internet, the best prices can be found on the internet. DMEs sometime will sell products a 3x MSRP. There are several shopping sites like Amazon, Shopzilla, Google, Shopping.com. All of the sites have many products to choose from. The biggest complaint with these sites is the difficult in finding contact information. All are based on a 3rd party relationship between the shopping website, you the consumer and the vendor. Many internet consumer prefer the one on one relationship between the buyer and seller. If any issue arise, keeping the relationship simple is a good option. How can I find a good internet retailer? The best advice we can give is to search on the internet and to call those that look reputable. Reputable could mean being a authorized dealer, well organized site, easy to find contact info on the website etc. Feel free to call the on-line retailer and ask them questions about their products. A reputable retailer should be able answer any question you may have about their pulse oximeters model and features. We would also recommend that you target retailers that focus on the sale of oximeters alone. Many on-line websites sell thousands of products. Your needs to find the right product at the right price require a more specific approach to buying. Don't get trapped into a call center that is based oversees. If the Customer Service folks can't understand or answer your questions keep looking. Do I need a prescription to get a pulse oximeter? Depends. Many models are FDA 510K approved Class II medical devices. This means that in order to buy the oximeter, a doctors prescription is necessary. Many manufactures have developed Class II and non-prescription equivalent. The device itself is based on the same technology, they have chosen not to market it as a medical device. Sometimes these are referred to as health and wellness oximeters.
Resource Links Learn More About about the first Fingertip Pulse Oximeter, the Nonin ONYX. New Product Update, Nonin has introduced a new product called the GO2 Pulse Oximeter . The new GO2 was designed for in home use by patients on oxygen therapy . Select this link for more information about this new affordable product. Nonin's first pulse oximeter was the Nonin Onyx 9500. Nonin has sold over a million of these devices over the last 15 years.
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