team photo


Team 14

Team Members

Faculty Advisor

Sean Dunn
Akeva Koulla
Adeline Richard
Hailey Giordano (Not Pictured)

Dr. Kazunori Hoshino

Sponsor

UConn School of Nursing

sponsored by
Sponsor Image Not Available

Engineering Equity in Patient Monitoring: The Pulse Oximetry Challenge

When it comes to determining hypoxia, a condition where there is a deficit of oxygen being delivered to tissues in the body, it is imperative to have a non-invasive, rapid, and accurate way of determining blood oxygenation levels. Currently, modern-day pulse oximeters had inherent racial bias within them due to pigment within darker-skinned individuals, eumelanin. This pigment absorbs NIR values at a rate different compared to those with light skin tones, which is the basis of determining SpO2 (oxygen saturation) in pulse oximeters, resulting in inaccurate values for these individuals. This project seeks to propose and develop a new system for pulse oximetry that would provide accurate readings for all individuals, regardless of skin color, to account for where competitors still fall short.