Neterpljachki – purchasing oxygen saturation sensors. Stage 2

It has been stated by the medicine that the amount of oxygen in blood greatly affects the human's health and the performance of all the organs. It especially important when the child is born with the weight less than a 1000 grams and doctors are struggling for his life! 

Remember the American TV series "Ambulance", when the patient is laying on a bed with the special pin attached to his finger - it is the saturation sensor, which provides the information about the oxygen in blood onto the monitor of the pulseoximeter. In case of the premature born children the sensor is attached to wrist, because the fingers are too small yet.

The goal of this project is to purchase 8 saturation sensors for the apparatuses of pulse oximetry for the intensive care unit and intensive therapy unit for newborns of the Perinatal center of Kiev, because they have twelve beds, while there are twice less apparatuses and the sensors need to be replaced...

How to measure the rate of oxygen in the blood to determine whether it is normal? The best and most accurate way to answer this question gives the diagnostic direction, called pulse oximetry. Its main principle consists in measuring the oxygen rate in the arterial blood's hemoglobin. At the deficiency of oxygen in arterial blood, the vital activity deteriorates, and if there is enough of it, the person feels good.

Pulse oximetry favorably differs from the traditional blood gas analysis for two important reasons. Firstly, it does not cause discomfort, because it requires no invasive sampling of blood (and thus absolutely painless!). Secondly, the undisputed advantage of pulse oximetry on a blood test is more accurate result.

For the first time the method of pulse oximetry was used in intensive care units. Over time, the technique was improved, the quality of the equipment improved, and this research became public. This means that a doctor or a nurse can easily teach a mother to read the performance from the monitor, she can worry less if it is seen that the indicators are normal or there is enough time to call for help if the performance deteriorates sharply.

The benefits of pulse oximetry: A non-invasive, painless method for determining oxygen saturation, pulse rate and pulse wave amplitude; Enough accurate method for determining the respiratory function; It can be used both for single studies and long-term monitoring; It does not require special medical knowledge, calibration, and maintenance-free; The method is quite simple and reliable in use.

The sensor unit is equipped with two LEDs (one of which emits red light rays, infrared and other) and a photodetector, which fall the rays passing through the tissue. The sensor registers the change in color depending on the hemoglobin saturation with oxygen, and outputs the result to the display monitor.

Terms of pulse oximetry: properly fasten the sensor. Fixing must be reliable, but without undue pressure; After attaching the sensor to the patient need to wait a little longer (about 5-20 seconds), after which the unit will result; Bright ambient light also affects the readings; Jaundice, dark skin, gender, age on pulse oximetry virtually have no effect.

Without sensor saturation output of indicators of oxygen saturation in the blood is almost impossible. Therefore pulse oximetry unit itself, if the probe fails is just a box. Sensors require a relatively frequent replacement, so projects for fundraising are systemic and permanent...