Handheld Retinal Oximetry in Healthy Young Adults

The objective of this study was to measure the relative retinal oxygen saturation with a prototype, mobile handheld oximeter in upright and supine position and to compare these measurements to the gold standard Oxymap T1 retinal oximeter in upright position. A handheld oximeter is needed for measurements of infants with retinopathy of prematurity as well as acutely injured and bedridden adults.

Healthy volunteers (age 18-35) were recruited at the Leiden University Medical Center. Retinal images were acquired with the handheld oximeter and the Oxymap T1. Both cameras are dual-wavelength oximeters and acquire images with wavelengths of 570 and 600 nm. Retinal oxygen saturation values were determined for both the handheld camera and the Oxymap T1.

Twenty-one subjects (age 25 ± 2 years) were included. In upright position, the oxygen saturation for the arterioles was 92.2% to 4.9% vs. 95.5% ± 4.2% and for the venules 57.9% ± 10.2% vs. 57.7% ± 6.4% for the handheld camera and Oxymap T1, respectively. The oxygen saturation was higher in the arterioles than the venules for both cameras (P < 0.05). In supine position, measured with the handheld oximeter, the oxygen saturation in the arterioles was 92.3% ± 5.8% and 59.2% ± 6.1% in the venules.

Performance of the prototype, mobile handheld oximeter Corimap camera compares well with the Oxymap T1, with a slightly larger standard deviation in oxygen saturation measurements, both in upright and supine patients.

To date, to our knowledge, no oximeters are available for handheld use and for measurement in supine position in infants and bedridden adults. Here we tested such an oximeter and show that its performance compares well with that of the gold standard Oxymap T1 in healthy adults.