(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 21 - Fundamental tool in the fight against coronavirus, the oximeter may not work on darker skin.
This is the warning from the American Food and Drug Administration which has analyzed several studies on the subject.
Loriporta the CNN.
According to a study in particular, published in December in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Michael Sjoding of the University of Michigan, out of 10,000 patients the oximeter gave a misleading result on 3.6% of white patients and 11.7% of black patients. .
In practice, Sjoding explains, one in 10 black patients could get a wrong diagnosis.
Moreover, according to data from the US Center for Disease Control, blacks, Latinos and Native Americans have four times the chances of being hospitalized for Covid-19.
The explanation of why the oximeter works less on dark skin is relatively simple.
The device works by sending two types of red light through the finger.
A sensor on the other side of the device detects this light and uses it to detect the color of your blood;
bright red blood is highly oxygenated, while blue or purplish blood is less so.
If the device is not calibrated for darker skin, pigmentation may affect how light is absorbed.
Fortunately, the researchers argue, doctors don't rely solely and exclusively on the results of spirometers to make a diagnosis of coronavirus.
(HANDLE).