Validation of Polar Elixir™ Pulse Oximeter against Arterial Blood Gases during Stepwise Steady-State Inspired Hypoxia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) measurements from Polar Elixir™ pulse oximetry technology compared with arterial oxygen saturation (SaO 2 ) measurements during acute stepwise steady-state inspired hypoxia at rest. A post hoc objective was to determine if SpO 2 measurements could be improved by recalibrating the Polar Elixir™ algorithm with SaO 2 values from a random subset of participants.

Methods: The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) protocol (ISO 80601-2-61:2017) for evaluating the SpO 2 accuracy of pulse oximeter equipment was followed whereby five plateaus of SaO 2 between 70% and 100% were achieved using stepwise reductions in inspired O 2 during supine rest.