34
Appendix
¢
Spectral Absorption of Hb and HbO
2
Absorption coefficient
Wavelength
Red light Infrared light
Measurement Principle
This instrument measures the oxygen saturation (SpO
2
) in arte-
rial blood and pulse rate continuously in a non-invasive method
by applying optical principles.
With this instrument, SpO
2
is dened by the following equation.
where
C (Hb): Concentration of reduced hemoglobin
C (HbO
2
): Concentration of oxyhemoglobin
The light-absorption characteristics of reduced hemoglobin (Hb)
are very different from those of oxyhemoglobin. This instrument
measures the changes in the absorption of red and infrared
lights passing through the tissue to determine the SpO
2
of the
blood. Thus, this method is free from the effects of skin color,
muscles, bones, and veins.