ArticleJournal of biomedical optics2026
Cause, effect, and remediation of melanin-associated bias in pulse oximetry.
Article in Journal of biomedical optics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Broad-linewidth sources result in a skin-tone bias in noninvasive optical measurement of oxygen saturation.Journal of biomedical optics · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Significance: Black patients are at greater risk than White patients for occult hypoxemia due to a melanin-associated bias in Aim: We aim to demonstrate how melanin-associated inaccuracies in commercially available pulse oximeters increase the likelihood of occult hypoxemia for all patients and how monochromatic light sources could minimize melanin-associated occult hypoxemia. Approach: Published values of mean error ( Results: The analytically predicted risk of occult hypoxemia for Black patients relative to White patients was 2.1, consistent with published empirical findings. Oximeters unaffected by melanin in the skin would have smaller mean errors and uncertainties than current oximeters, significantly reducing the risk of occult hypoxemia in both Black patients (83% reduction) and White patients (65% reduction). Conclusions: Because everyone has melanin in their skin, the use of monochromatic light sources in pulse oximeters could significantly reduce the risk of occult hypoxemia for everyone.
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