Recently, due to the inability to grab the spot of oximeter on various online shopping platforms, a group of consumers began to consider buying smart watches/bracelets with blood oxygen monitoring function.
Can smart watches replace oximeters?
Some store staff said that recently, a few customers consulted the blood oxygen measurement function of watches, but not many people came to buy watches. Some store staff also said that the function of measuring blood oxygen by sports watches is no problem in normal use, but there is definitely a gap compared with professional medical devices such as oximeter.
A brand said that the function and data accuracy of smart wearable devices can be used as important equipment for daily life health monitoring and medical auxiliary data, such as continuous monitoring of heart rate, observation of heart rate variability, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, skin temperature and even blood pressure monitoring, etc., which have been greatly applied in practice.
A staff member said that the "blood oxygen" function in the watch is not recommended for medical use. "In the past, people paid more attention to sports when buying watches, but now the direction has changed a bit. Recently, someone came to consult the blood oxygen measurement function of the watch, but we didn't dare to let customers buy it. After all, it is just a watch, which can have the function of health monitoring, but it is for reference only and cannot be used as medical care. "
The staff of a franchise store said that there should be no major problems in daily monitoring and use, but if the accuracy is emphasized, it will not be comparable to professional instruments. Another official customer service said that the blood oxygen sensor function is only used for daily monitoring values, and the actual detection is mainly based on doctors or professional medical devices.
When the reporter inquired about a official website, official website gave some hints on how to use the "blood oxygen" App on the watch: the measured data of the "blood oxygen" App is not suitable for any medical use (including self-diagnosis or consulting a doctor), and can only be used for general fitness and health purposes.
Is it reliable to measure blood oxygen with smart watch? Oxygen saturation is one of the health indicators of human body, which can reflect whether our organs are in a state of hypoxia. For example, brain hypoxia can lead to unconsciousness; Cardiac hypoxia can lead to angina pectoris; Hypoxia of the liver will lead to the decline of metabolic function ... but the accuracy of smart wearable devices needs to be confirmed for the measurement of oxygen saturation. In contrast, the value detected by home blood oxygen detector is more accurate.
Generally speaking, normal people's oxygen saturation will be 98 ~100% without oxygen inhalation; If it is less than 95%, it needs to be taken seriously; If it is less than 90%, it is recommended to seek medical advice in time. He also warned that it is not necessary for all people infected with COVID-19 virus to go to hospital for treatment. If you have fever and other symptoms that only last for 1 ~ 2 days, and the blood oxygen saturation is maintained at a normal level, it is suggested that you don't have to go to the hospital to avoid a run on medical resources.