Evaluation of the Datascope ACCUSAT pulse oximeter in healthy adults

Arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation measured with the Datascope ACCUSAT pulse oximeter was compared with simultaneous arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation measurements in healthy adult volunteers. One hundred thirty-five arterial blood samples ranging in saturation from 63 to 100% were obtained from 15 adults, aged 20 to 43 years. These subjects had different skin pigmentation, hematocrit, and smoking habits. Steady-state hypoxia was achieved by varying the inspired oxygen concentration between 10 and 21%. Readings from the Datascope ACCUSAT pulse oximeter and the Hewlett-Packard 47201A ear oximeter were compared with arterial blood samples analyzed by the Instrumentation Laboratories IL 282 in vitro CO-Oximeter. The equation for the best fitted linear regression line between the ACCUSAT pulse oximeter and the reference IL 282 CO-Oximeter was: ACCUSAT = 1.08(IL) - 6.86. The linear regression analysis revealed a high degree of correlation (r = 0.99), and a small standard error of the estimate (SEE = 1.29%). Simultaneous comparisons between arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation measured with the ACCUSAT pulse oximeter and the Hewlett-Packard ear oximeter also showed a close correlation (r = 0.99, SEE = 1.47%). A similar comparison between the ACCUSAT and the Ohmeda 3700 pulse oximeter revealed good correlation (r = 0.99, SEE = 1.72%). We found that the ACCUSAT pulse oximeter is an accurate instrument for measuring arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation noninvasively in the range between 60 and 100%.