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Are those oxygen monitoring apps any good? (including the Apple Watch one, I mean). I remember that during Covid there was a big gap between what these devices

Are those oxygen monitoring apps any good? (including the Apple Watch one, I mean). I remember that during Covid there was a big gap between what these devices were telling their users and the numbers measured by actual medical equipment (with the latter being those closer to the truth, of course).

andsoitis 3y ago
I use my Oura ring for that - https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/7328398760851-Blood-Oxygen-Sensing-SpO2 https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/7328398760851... Like other consumer device manufacturers they have a disclaimer that it isn't a medical device, with concomitant implications. I have not compared with medical equipment but am interested in doing so, or hear from others who have.
amluto 3y ago
Not great. I have no idea how accurate they are, but they’re very fiddly and don’t produce a reading at all unless conditions are ideal.
pi-e-sigma 3y ago
All medical-grade blood oxygen sensors that I have seen in hospitals are put on the tip of the finger. This arrangement allows them to beam light through the human flesh and measure how much of it is absorbed - the light source is on one side of the finger and the sensor on the other and there is no bone between them at the tip of the finger, just tissue with lots of blood in it. Smart watches are carried on the wrist so they can only measure light reflected back which gives much lower sensitivity and accuracy.
fhsm 3y ago
They can be decent but can be totally wrong too: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10039641/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10039641/
brandonb 3y ago
Researchers measured the accuracy of the Apple Watch's oxygen sensor, and found it was as reliable as a medical-grade device: https://data.empirical.health/p/is-the-apple-watchs-blood-oxygen https://data.empirical.health/p/is-the-apple-watchs-blood-ox... The FDA doesn't regulate "over the counter" oxygen sensors (including those you find at a CVS or Walgreens), but that study suggests that if they did, Apple could get an FDA clearance. They already have several FDA clearances for the Apple Watch's ECG, irregular rhythm notifications, and afib history features. The oxygen sensor is helpful for detecting, among other things, sleep apnea, where 60-80% of people are undiagnosed.
- mslip1 3y ago
  I believe the Apple Watch is a class 2 medical device because it alerts you if it thinks you’re having a heart attack. They probably got a 510k for this and based it on some other predicate device
  - mikestew 3y ago
    “Apple Watch cannot check for signs of a heart attack.” — Apple Watch ECG App You’re probably thinking of afib, which I believe the watch will alert for.

andsoitis 3y ago

I use my Oura ring for that - https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/7328398760851-Blood-Oxygen-Sensing-SpO2 https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/7328398760851... Like other consumer device manufacturers they have a disclaimer that it isn't a medical device, with concomitant implications. I have not compared with medical equipment but am interested in doing so, or hear from others who have.

amluto 3y ago

Not great. I have no idea how accurate they are, but they’re very fiddly and don’t produce a reading at all unless conditions are ideal.

pi-e-sigma 3y ago

All medical-grade blood oxygen sensors that I have seen in hospitals are put on the tip of the finger. This arrangement allows them to beam light through the human flesh and measure how much of it is absorbed - the light source is on one side of the finger and the sensor on the other and there is no bone between them at the tip of the finger, just tissue with lots of blood in it. Smart watches are carried on the wrist so they can only measure light reflected back which gives much lower sensitivity and accuracy.

fhsm 3y ago

They can be decent but can be totally wrong too: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10039641/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10039641/

brandonb 3y ago

Researchers measured the accuracy of the Apple Watch's oxygen sensor, and found it was as reliable as a medical-grade device: https://data.empirical.health/p/is-the-apple-watchs-blood-oxygen https://data.empirical.health/p/is-the-apple-watchs-blood-ox... The FDA doesn't regulate "over the counter" oxygen sensors (including those you find at a CVS or Walgreens), but that study suggests that if they did, Apple could get an FDA clearance. They already have several FDA clearances for the Apple Watch's ECG, irregular rhythm notifications, and afib history features. The oxygen sensor is helpful for detecting, among other things, sleep apnea, where 60-80% of people are undiagnosed.

mslip1 3y ago
I believe the Apple Watch is a class 2 medical device because it alerts you if it thinks you’re having a heart attack. They probably got a 510k for this and based it on some other predicate device
- mikestew 3y ago
  “Apple Watch cannot check for signs of a heart attack.” — Apple Watch ECG App You’re probably thinking of afib, which I believe the watch will alert for.