The importance of complete opposition of the reflectance probe was examined on an adult finger. False low oxygen saturation readings were recorded with malpositioned probes. A new probe with modified geometry was designed which offered an improved performance in reducing this artifact and further suggestions were given for its possible elimination.Finally, a proposal for a novel, visible multi-wavelength reflection pulse oximeter is presented with the aim of replacing current pulse oximeters in certain situations where their use is questionable.

No abstract