Pulse oximeters came along in the 1980s as an easy and painless alternative. The device shines a light through the fingertip, seeking out oxygen-rich blood.

A pulse oximeter works by using a beam of light to detect oxygen carried in red blood cells after being attached to the tip of the finger or ear. It provides a reading of the oxygen saturation ...

Doctors say if you use a finger-tip oximeter device to track your oxygen levels due to an underlying health condition, it 's fine -- but for most people, it’s not needed.

Pulse oximeters are small devices that are designed to estimate a person’s pulse rate and the level of oxygen in their blood, the latter to give an idea of how well someone’s lungs are working.

Pulse oximeters with a history function save data, so you don’t have to jot down your results each time. This is a useful feature to have if you are supposed to be recording results for your doctor.

There are a few different styles of pulse oximeters available. Each device features a finger clamp, which takes a reading, but the placement of the screen varies.

Often when Dr. Thomas Valley sees a new patient in the intensive care unit at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, he clamps a pulse oximeter on their finger – one of the many devices he uses to ...