2013 A Non-Invasive Means of Accurately Determining Oxygen Saturation of the Central Venous System

Team: Marie Biscarrat, Nimmi Bhatt, Robert Chen, Manali Sawany

Purpose:
Measurement of a patient’s oxygen saturation in venous blood gas (SvO₂) gives hospital staff information about the patient’s integrated oxygen consumption. Current measurements for SvO₂ require invasive Swan-Ganz catheters which are inserted inside the patient’s body to sample the blood. However, catheterization carries many risks, including bleeding, infection, and pain at the catheter insertion site. Catheterization may also damage blood vessels and there may be allergic reactions to the dyes that are used during the associated coronary angiography. Furthermore, not only is the catheterization process time-consuming, but analysis of the blood sample must be performed in a laboratory. Thus, this project aims to develop a minimally invasive device that can measure SvO₂ in a clinical setting.