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From: <john.r.strohm@BI*.co*>
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 1996 20:01:20 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Computers: what's next ?
To: kevink@ap*.co*
Cc: philippe.villard@rp*.fr*, techdiver@terra.net

>The little skin sensor works by looking at the "redness" of the tissues.
>This makes the assumption that "red" equates with "O2-saturated
>hemoglobin".  Since the N2 isn't reacting with anything in the body, this
>would be difficult to sense.

The skin sensor for a heart monitor just measures changes in transparency
to light.  As blood flows in and out, in response to the heartbeat, the
transparency changes.  This technology has been around for a long time; I
saw a do-it-yourself article for a similar device in a late-1960s Popular
Electronics.

The sensor on a pulse oxcimeter measures color changes, probably with a
two-color sensor.  The blood changes color depending on oxygenation. 
Measuring through a finger averages the difference between arterial and
venous blood.

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