How is this medical device racially biased?🤚🏾🤚🏻⁠ ⁠ The UK government-commissioned review into the equity of medical devices was set up in 2022 after pulse oximetres were thrown into the spotlight during Covid-19 amidst concerns of the accuracy of their readings. Researchers are now calling for urgent action to be taken as the report has concluded that pulse oximetres actually overestimate the amount of oxygen in the blood of people with dark skin. ⁠ ⁠ Those errors can have real clinical consequences as blood oxygen is one of the key vital signs doctors use to determine whether someone needs to receive oxygen or be admitted to the hospital. ⁠ ⁠ So what can be done about it? Well researchers and engineers, predominantly in the US are working towards improving the accuracy of the device in a variety of ways. Some by correcting for skin tone, others by changing the wavelength of light passed through. Whether any of these strategies will fix the bias n pulse oximetres remains to be seen but hopefully the government’s response to the report of the equity in medical devices, will encourage a better understanding of the inequities inherent in this devices as well as a hunt for solutions. ⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in bio to learn more ⁠ ⁠ #medicaldevicebias #pulseoximeter #health #racialbias ⁠