Nail varnish - Some research has shown that dark nail varnish bias pulse oximeter readings, but not by a clinically significant amount 1,2. However there are limitations to this research such as a lack of trials at lower saturations, so in practice nail carnish should still be removed.
Intravenous dyes (such as methylene blue, indigo carmine and indocyanine green) can cause inaccurate readings 3.
External interference. There have been reports of interference with pulse oximeter readings, for example from a nerver stimulator 4 and from a fluorescent light 5.
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page last modified: 01/01/2009
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