Pediatric research
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Transmission pulse oximetry is used for monitoring in many clinical settings. However, for fetal monitoring during labor and in situations with poor peripheral perfusion, transmission pulse oximetry cannot be used. Therefore, we developed a reflectance pulse oximeter, which uses the relative intensity changes of the reflected red and infrared light (red/infrared ratio) to measure the arterial oxygen saturation. ⋯ A calibration curve for the relationship between red/infrared ratio and arterial oxygen saturation was obtained from 53 measurements in four fetal lambs, by linear regression analysis [red/infrared = 4.088-(0.038. SaO2), r = 0.96]. In these experiments, the pulse oximeter showed a precision of 4.7% oxygen saturation around the calibration curve, with a 95% confidence interval of +/- 9.4%.