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Smartphone app reads blood oxygen levels

New smartphone app and device can read blood oxygen levels. 

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LionsGate Technologies, a Canadian social enterprise has created the Phone Oximeter, an app and medical sensor that reads blood oxygen levels

Developed by Drs. Mark Ansermino, Guy Durmont and Peter von Dadelszen, the device consists of a light sensor that attaches to a person's fingertip. It can be connected to any smartphone and once plugged, the app is downloaded.  

The device can also be used with a tablet, computer or laptop.

The new invention is particularly important for those with hypoxemia or low blood oxygen. Early detection of hypoxemia can prevent further complications and even death. 

Using a predictive score, the phone app can also help pregnant women at risk for life-threatening issues from high blood pressure. They claim accuracy for 75 percent of cases. The condition called preeclampsia, affects 10 percent of pregnancies globally and accounts for more than 50 percent of maternal deaths in developing countries. 

Disorders related to high blood pressure are the second leading cause of stillbirths in third world countries.

"Through innovative engineering, we have been able to tap into the computing power of smartphones to produce medical-grade, low cost monitoring systems to widespread usage in low and medium resource countries," Dumont wrote in a press release. 

Scientists are still working on the mobile oximeter. Tests to fine tune the device will involve monitoring blood oxygen levels of athletes in training, allowing developers to speed through preliminary use. 

The Phone Oximeter target price is $40, and would make the gadget 80 percent less costly than any other medical device capable of meeting medical standards. 

"This is a critical step in achieving our goal of having a pulse oximeter in every home," Ansermino said. 

 
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