Novel Pulse Oximetry Sonifications for Eyes Free Monitoring: Three Laboratory Studies

Pulse oximeters monitor a patient’s heart rate and oxygen saturation (SpO2) via visual and auditory displays. Heart rate is represented by the beep rate and SpO2 by beep pitch. However, the auditory display alone does not always accurately inform clinicians of the patient’s actual SpO2 level. Moreover, neonates have special oxygen needs that mean current pulse oximetry sounds are inadequate. In three studies we tested potentially improved pulse oximetry sounds for monitoring critically ill neonates. The control condition was a logarithmic mapping of percentage oxygen saturation to beep frequency in Hz. A sonification that added an intermittent reference tone, or “beacon” when SpO2 was out of the target range proved highly effective. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.