Kolkata: A smart phone app to get the readings of SpO2 (oxygen saturation) and pulse rate has been tested on 1,200 patients at state-run IPGMER for about two months after the ethical committee’s approval.
The study found that the app has 98% accuracy in SpO2 reading and 96% accuracy in detecting pulse rate.
Called CarePlix Vitals, the app uses artificial intelligence to remotely measure the oxygen saturation and pulse rate without any wearable device.
The app uses the PPG (photoplethysmography), a non-invasive technology that uses light sources as a photo detector.
While the pulse oximeter has infrared light sensors the CarePlix Vitals has the flashlight of the phone camera. Once the rear camera and flashlight are covered with a finger for about 40 seconds, the difference in light intensity is calculated from where the PPG graph is plotted and the oxygen saturation and pulse rate are derived from the graph.