SET Oximetry Detects Apnea-Related Hypoxemia

A study has found that oximetry employing signal extraction technology (SET) can improve the detection of hypoxemia related to obstructive sleep apnea. The study, conducted by researchers at the Robert Debre Hospital in Paris (France), was presented at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society in San Francisco (CA, USA).

Low arterial oxygen saturation is an early warning of a significant episode of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A large number of hypoxemic episodes and lengthy desaturation during sleep are considered as major indicators of severe OSA. Pulse oximetry is the most common method of measuring hypoxemia but it has been proven unreliable due to patient movement and other types of interference.

In the study, the researchers evaluated the use of SET pulse oximetry with two other oximeters based on different technology for detecting apnea-related hypoxemia. They found that the SET oximetry detected 35% more hypoxemic events than one of these and 65% more events than the other. The researchers blamed this poorer performance on the "freezing” of other technology. In another recent study, involving children, researchers found that an oximeter using other technology missed entire runs of periodic breathing and hypoxemic episodes. SET was developed by Masimo Corp. (Irvine, CA, USA; www.masimo.com) and has been incorporated in the oximetry products of the company and of other firms.



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