Patent attributes
The invention relates to the calibration of a pulse oximeter intended for non-invasively determining the amount of at least two light-absorbing substances in the blood of a subject. In order to bring about a solution by means of which the effects caused by the tissue of the subject can be taken into account in connection with the calibration of a pulse oximeter, initial characterization measurements are carried out for a pulse oximeter calibrated under nominal conditions. Based on the characterization measurements, nominal characteristics are established describing the conditions under which nominal calibration has been defined, and reference data indicating the nominal characteristics are stored. In-vivo measurements are then performed on living tissue and based on the in-vivo measurements and the reference data stored, tissue-induced changes in the nominal characteristics are determined. Subject-specific variation in the in-vivo measurements is compensated for by correcting the nominal calibration on the basis of the tissue-induced changes.
