Smartphone app can measure blood oxygen levels with 80% accuracy

From asthma to Covid-19, several conditions can require regular blood oxygen measurements. Currently, these measurements are taken using a pulse oximeter – a device that clips onto your fingertip or ear – although this can make testing tricky on the go. In the hopes of making the process easier, scientists have developed a smartphone app that uses the device's camera and flash to measure blood oxygen levels. During testing, researchers from the University of Washington and University of California San Diego showed that smartphone can detect blood oxygen saturation levels down to 70 per cent – the lowest value that pulse oximeters should be able to measure. Scientists have developed a smartphone app that uses the device's camera and flash to measure blood oxygen levels A pulse oximeter measures how much light is absorbed by your blood.