New sensor to improve intensive care monitoring of breathing

An innovative new sensor could improve how hospital staff monitor patient breath rates and stability, according to new Oxford University research. It is commonly understood that in both healthy animals and humans, arterial blood oxygen levels stay constant as we breathe. However, until now, the technology available has not been fast enough, or small enough, to be able to measure and demonstrate this. In a new paper published in Scientific Reports , researchers from the University of Oxford and King's College London, developed and tested a new sensor that by effectively measuring arterial oxygen levels, has disproved the misconception that they stay constant. Instead, the sensor picked-up that arterial oxygen rates actually fluctuate as we breathe. Developed as part of an inter-disciplinary collaboration, the ultrafast fibre optic sensor is the first of its kind to capture respiratory oxygen levels successfully. These new insights support better understanding of how our lungs function and could potentially support bespoke ventilation care for patients (humans and animals) in intensive care units, and for people with diseased lungs in general.