Pulse oximeters- so much choice!

I’m a biology teacher. I am thinking about buying a set of pulse oximeters for use in class. Has anyone got any recommendations for a suitable model? Value for money, reliable, well constructed- with these things is it a case of pick any two?

Look for CE and or UKCA marked ones.

Probably better to buy from a medical device supplier rather than amazon,  but if you don’t need them to be that accurate or medical device grade then get cheap ones on amazon

I went cheap from eBay it was as effective as the machines at work which are 1000s more.

@Drac, do you think that the £5.00 jobbies would OK for a class of teenage pupils?

Absolutely. If it’s to just show them SPo2 levels then more than good enough. You’re not using it as a diagnostic too so don’t need to be accurate.

No point in spending large amounts of money on them.
My last one was under £15 and colleagues have paid sub £10 they do the job there designed for.

Brilliant, many thanks for the advice.

Background to this is that we were given two devices years ago as a part of the London 2012 legacy. The pupils have always loved using them. I always thought that they’d be quite pricey and was pleasantly surprised at the cost when I looked.

So, based upon the advice received from some random people on the internet I think that due diligence has been done and I can order fifteen with a clear conscience 😂🤫

Fun fact, quite a few pupils think that they have a different pulse rate in different places in/on their bodies.

Buy cheap. They are medical devices and certified. I tested my cheap one at the GP when I had a check in for my Long Covid. Was fine.

they dont have to be accurate for you, only consistent.

I’m a biology teacher.

and

Fun fact, quite a few pupils think that they have a different pulse rate in different places in/on their bodies.

These two statements don’t quite add up 😆

Useless fact – pulse oximetry was calibrated by making medical students hypoxic, so anything less than about 80 is extrapolation.

Plus if you happen to have a darker skin tone,  they don’t work as well.

Unless someone has managed to update them since they discovered that issue

@thelawman

I always like to know where my pupils are starting from.

Fun fact, quite a few pupils think that they have a different pulse rate in different places in/on their bodies.
These two statements don’t quite add up 😆

The pulses in your feet need to work twice as hard to get blood back to heart than the one in your neck?

Plus if you happen to have a darker skin tone,  they don’t work as well.

The one my wife bought registers as expected on her, but rarely read over 90% for me. She got quite concerned about that, but I’m still here!

Does spO2 correlate to anything in exercise? e.g. does VO2 Max correlate to a drop off in spO2?

I’m a geek and still fancy anew watch so this is my flimsy justification.

the issue with them is that they are only accurate to 2-3 % and the normal values are 95-100%.

the one on my garmin watch is even more unreliable

may be helpful if you are struggling to breath and seeing numbers in the 80s I suppose

Unless someone has managed to update them since they discovered that issue

Funnily enough, we’ve been recruiting to the UK-ROX trial of standard vs. conservative SaO2 targets, and the EXAKT sub-study (which has not long closed) was looking at precisely that.