An everyday medical device called the pulse oximeter has started gaining attention for its potential use in diagnosing and monitoring Covid-19 symptoms. When clipped onto a person’s finger the device measures the pulse and the percentage of oxygen in the blood. The pulse oximeter was mostly used for monitoring patients in hospitals. However, since the device can assist in diagnosis and monitoring of Covid symptoms and since there is a spike in the number of people testing positive, the pulse oximeter has become a common device for home use. It must be said that whenever there is a huge demand for a particular item, unscrupulous elements tend to take advantage of the situation and supply duplicate and fake instruments. A picture doing the rounds on social media shows how a pulse oximeter shows the oxygen level when a pen is placed in the device. Another picture shows how a device shows different readings of oxygen levels for different fingers of the same hand. There could be Chinese made low-grade pulse oximeters available in the market. Consumers need to be alert while buying the device. They should buy only those manufactured by reputed companies and also check them at the counter before buying. These pulse oximeters are quite expensive and hence utmost care needs to be taken while investing in them.
