Simulating the Effects of Melanin and Air Gap Depth on the Accuracy of Reflectance Pulse Oximeters
Published in BIODEVICES, 2023
Abstract
The work aims to understand the effects of skin color and air gap depth on the accuracy of oxygen saturation estimation. In this paper, this is done by simulating light propagation through the tissue. It is very important to understand light propagation through the tissue when designing a reflectance pulse oximeter to know what tissue layers are illuminated by the LEDs, how to position the emitter and the detector depending on the measurement site, and what kind of signal is expected at the photodetector. This knowledge could also contribute to developing robust pulse oximeters whose accuracy does not depend on a subject’s skin color. Our simulation results confirm a larger variation of SpO2 for lower saturation levels for dark-skinned subjects if the SpO2 calibration curve is mainly obtained based on measurements from light-skinned subjects. Also, if the device is calibrated with a small air gap, increasing the air gap will result in overestimated SpO2.
Cite as: M. Bolic, Simulating the Effects of Melanin and Air Gap Depth on the Accuracy of Reflectance Pulse Oximeters, BIODEVICES, pp. 64--71, 2023.
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