ArticleBiophotonics discovery2025
Characterizing the influence of skin pigmentation on pulse oximetry.
Article in Biophotonics discovery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Unifying the spectrum: a framework for the meta-analysis of human skin tone scales.Journal of biomedical optics · 2026Pooled it
- Broad-linewidth sources result in a skin-tone bias in noninvasive optical measurement of oxygen saturation.Journal of biomedical optics · 2026Article
- Evaluation of a polarization-sensitive, dual-wavelength wearable photoplethysmography sensor across a range of skin tones.Biophotonics discovery · 2026Article
- Evaluating SnapshotNIR for Tissue Oxygenation Measurement Across Skin Types After Mastectomy.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Significance: Pulse oximeters are frequently used in healthcare settings to noninvasively estimate blood oxygen levels in patients, in turn influencing clinical decision-making. However, numerous studies have found pulse oximeters consistently overestimate oxygen levels in patients of color, with this overestimation increasing as oxygen levels decline. Although some reports postulate skin pigmentation may be the source of bias, to our knowledge, the precise impact of skin pigmentation on pulse oximetry has not been elucidated. Aim: Our objective is to experimentally characterize the impact of skin pigmentation on pulse oximeters across a broad range of oxygen saturations and determine whether skin pigmentation can explain the observed pulse oximeter bias in patients of color. Results: Using a live porcine model, we experimentally demonstrate the impact of skin pigmentation on pulse oximeter calculation. In particular, we show that skin pigmentation attenuates the sensitivity of red-light absorption to changes in oxygen saturation and show that the pulse oximeter output is consequently attenuated in pigmented skin. Conclusion: The systematic animal experiments confirm the confounding impact of skin pigmentation on intermediate calculations of pulse oximetry, and validate existing clinical observations of pulse oximeter bias in patients of color.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.