Nitzan · Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) 2020 · narrative review · n=?

The Various Oximetric Techniques Used for the Evaluation of Blood Oxygenation.

Cited 99 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative technical review without systematic search methodology or empirical human trial data.

PubMed 32867184 · doi:10.3390/s20174844 · record verified 2026-08-27

What was done

The authors reviewed non-invasive optical oximetry methods used to measure oxygen saturation in arterial blood, venous blood (SvO2), and total tissue (StO2). The review covers the physical principles of differential light absorption by oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, modified pulse oximetry in fingers, modified Beer-Lambert Law applications in the retina, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in cerebral and peripheral muscle tissue, and technical methods used to separate hemoglobin light absorption from tissue scattering.

What was found

The abstract provides a purely descriptive, qualitative technical overview and reports no numerical data, accuracy metrics, or quantitative findings.

Why it matters

It outlines the physical mechanisms and optical modalities available for monitoring compartment-specific blood oxygenation (arterial, venous, and tissue beds) beyond standard pulse oximetry.

Limits

The paper is a narrative review with no systematic search methodology, no risk-of-bias evaluation, and no original clinical or experimental data presented in the abstract.

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