DIGITAL LIFE

American scientists develop smartphone app that measures blood oxygen levels

As a simple analogue of a pulse oximeter, scientists have developed an application for a smartphone that measures the level of oxygen in the blood. This is an important tool for monitoring CoVID-19, asthma and other diseases where indicators can drop sharply, requiring emergency medical assistance.

The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced many people with miniature pulse oximeter devices to assess the level of oxygen in the blood, which is usually attached to the finger or earlobe to take measurements. In search of free and affordable alternatives for patients, scientists at the University of Washington and the University of California at San Diego have turned to the possibilities of smartphones and artificial intelligence.

During breathing, the lungs are filled with oxygen, which is distributed by red blood cells for transport throughout the body. To function, the body needs a lot of oxygen - in healthy people, blood oxygen levels do not drop below 95%. In some diseases, especially with pneumonia caused by Covid-19, the oxygen saturation percentage drops to 90% and lower, which requires emergency medical assistance.

Using a smartphone's camera and flash, the researchers trained the algorithm to assess blood saturation indicators with oxygen. To do this, they asked volunteers to don a pulse meter on the one hand and use a camera with a flash on the other, pre-articularly reducing the blood oxygen level with a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen.

The precision test showed that the application determined the low level of oxygen in the blood in 80% of the cases. The range of blood saturation estimates was 61% to 100%.

The authors believe that more work will increase the accuracy - at this preliminary stage, only six volunteers with certain restrictions for the AI ​​- skin and corn with dark skin on the fingers participated. They are currently planning further surveys with a large sample of participants.

In the future, they plan to make the technology accessible to all people who need regular blood oxygen levels. First of all, this will be useful for patients with covid-19, asthma and heart failure.

Previously, AI was used in the primary diagnosis of covid-19-scientists, developed an algorithm that determined the infection by voice more accurately than tests expressed in smear.

Source: University of California-San Diego