Photoplethysmographic signals and blood oxygen saturation values during artificial hypothermia in healthy volunteers

Pulse oximetry utilizes the technique of photoplethysmography to estimate arterial oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) values. During hypothermia, the amplitude of the photoplethysmograph (PPG) is compromised which can lead to inaccurate estimation of SpO(2). A new mutlimode PPG/pulse oximeter sensor was developed to investigate the behaviour of PPGs during conditions of induced hypothermia (hand immersed in an ice bath). PPG measurements from 20 volunteers were conducted and SpO(2) values were estimated at all stages of the experiment. Good quality PPG signals were observed from the majority of the volunteers at almost all hand temperatures. At low temperature ranges, from 13 to 21 °C, the failure rate to estimate SpO(2) values from the multimode transreflectance PPG sensor was 2.4% as compared to the commercial pulse oximeter with a failure rate of 70%.