A Comparison of Finger Pulse Oximeter and SET-Based Neonatal Pulse Oximeter in Neonates in Terms of SpO2 Values and Response Time

Abstract

Pulse oximetry is an imperative noninvasive tool to detect hypoxia. Signal extraction technology (SET)-based pulse oximeters recommended in neonates are expensive, while finger pulse oximeters are cheaper and widely available. Oxygen saturation (SpO₂) values and reliable saturation reading time of 30 neonates were obtained using MEDITIVE MPO-03 fingertip pulse oximeter and Masimo SET-Rad-97 pulse oximeter on the right hand and right foot. Bland-Altman technique, paired t-test and Pearson correlational analysis were used. There was a good agreement of paired SpO₂ measurements between the two oximeters on right foot. The agreement limits and bias were -1.2% to 0.8%, -0.1% for right hand, and -0.7% to 0.7%, -0.01% for right foot, respectively with a confidence interval of 95%. The mean response time obtained for finger pulse oximeter on right hand and right foot was 66.4 ± 4.6 and 58.9 ± 5.0 and for SET-based pulse oximeter was 47.8 ± 2.9 and 48.3 ± 3.0 s, respectively. Finger pulse oximeters can be considered in low-resource settings on the foot of the neonate, with a response time of 59 s.

Keywords: Finger pulse oximeters; Pulse oximetry; SET-based pulse oximeters; SpO2 values.