Kolkata startup develops mobile app to monitor oxygen saturation and pulse rate
Oximeter has now turned into a vital accessory for each household during this COVID-19 second wave. But now a Kolkata based start-up CareNow Healthcare has developed a smartphone application ‘CarePlix Vital’s’ where all one needs to do is place a finger on the smartphone’s rear camera and flashlight and within seconds, the oxygen saturation (SpO2), pulse and respiration rates are displayed on the device.
CarePlix Vital’s is a registration-based application. The application’s AI helps in determining the strength of finger placement to give more accurate readings. “People needed a pulse oximeter or similar wearables such as a smartwatch to get their vitals such as oxygen saturation and pulse rate. The underlying technology is photoplethysmography or PPG,” said Subhabrata Paul, Co-Founder CareNow Healthcare. The device is using the smartphone’s rear camera and flashlight. Once the rear camera and flashlight is covered with the finger it starts the scan for around 40 seconds and difference of light intensity is calculated. Based on the difference the PPG graph is plotted. From the graph, the SpO2 and pulse rate is derived.
The application’s AI helps in determining the strength of finger placement that is, the stronger the finger placement, more accurate readings. In a matter of 40 seconds, the reading is displayed and with the help of an internet connection, the readings can be saved on cloud for record.
A clinical trial of the App was conducted at Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital Kolkata with 1200 individuals. With the doctors in the hospital, the trials were mainly conducted in the OPD. Comparisons were made to test the accuracy and it was found that CarePlix Vital was 96 percent accurate with heart beats while 98 percent accuracy in case of oxygen saturation. Kudos to the team as this will surely help many who cannot afford to buy oximeters that are priced high or for those who need to check the saturation level on the move.
