this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
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Fingertip oxygen sensors can fail on dark skin — now a physician is suing (www.nature.com)
submitted 10 months ago by Sal@mander.xyz to c/publichealth@mander.xyz
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[–] flooppoolf@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

These things use light to see through the skin. I think this physician should take it up with the laws of physics, unless of course, the O2 sensor said it could equally read through all skin types. But we are pretty much warned about this happening.. if someone died under your care and O2 monitoring was needed I don’t think this is the blood gas test you should have relied on…

[–] poopsmith@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

unless of course, the O2 sensor said it could equally read through all skin types.

In the article, it says the company states there was no significant difference in readings between black and white skin. The physician suing believes the original study is flawed because the company's tests were only conducted on healthy people in ideal lab settings.

But we are pretty much warned about this happening..

A part of the reason why the physician is suing is because they believe there should be warnings that these may be inaccurate for black people.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Would a stronger or different wavelength light work better on melanin-rich skin?

Has the industry done any research on how to make it work better?

Or is it like crash tests that don't even bother having a dummy which represents a woman? "If I don't have any data, I don't need to spend money on improving my product"?

[–] flooppoolf@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

  1. Not sure, not a physicist all we get told as students is that it might have a less reliable effect on darker skin tones.

  2. Not sure.

  3. They know it won’t work as well because we also happen to know.