# oximeter
## English
### Etymology

From oxi- (variant of oxy-) +‎ -meter. The word was first applied in sense 2 (“a device that measures the oxygen saturation of arterial blood”) by American physiologist Glenn Allan Millikan (1906–1947).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɒkˈsɪmɪtə/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ɑkˈsɪmətɚ/, [-ɾɚ]
* Hyphenation: ox‧i‧met‧er

### Noun

oximeter (plural oximeters)
* (chemistry) A device that measures the quantity of oxygen in something, particularly air in the atmosphere.
    Synonym: eudiometer
** 1808, Fredrick Accum [i.e., Friedrich Accum], “Part XVIII. Atmospheric Air.”, in System of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry. In Two Volumes, […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Kimber & Conrad, […], →OCLC, section III (Eudiometry, or Methods of Ascertaining the Purity of Atmospheric Air), page 262:The instruments in which the oxigen gas of a determined quantity of air was ascertained, received the name of EUDIOMETERS, because they were considered as measurers of the purity of air. They are however more properly called OXIMETERS.
** [1833 January, M. Brunner, “Art. IX.—Memoir on the Chemical Analysis of the Atmosphere; by M. Brunner, Prof. of Chemistry at Berne. […]”, in Prof. Griscom, transl., edited by Benjamin Silliman, The American Journal of Science and Arts, volume XXIII, number 2, New Haven, Conn.: Published and sold by Hezekiah Howe and A. H. Maltby; […], footnote, page 286:Is it not to be regretted that the term eudiometry and eudiometer should be applied exclusively to the art of determining the quantity of oxygen in the air and the instruments for that purpose? Would not the terms oximetry and oximeter be more appropriate?—Tr[anslator].]
** 1836, “EUDIO′METER”, in A Medical Vocabulary, or Explanation of All Names, Synonymes, Terms and Phrases Used in Medicine, Surgery, and the Relative Branches of Medical Science; […], Edinburgh: John Carfrae & Son; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, & Co.; Dublin: Hodges & Smith, →OCLC, page 64, column 2:EUDIO′METER. [...] An instrument by which the quantity of oxygen and nitrogen in atmospheric air is ascertained: an oxymeter.
** 1970 August, Stearns-Roger Corporation, “Plant Activities”, in Oak Ridge National Laboratory Vertical Tube Evaporator Pilot Plant: Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1969 (Research and Development Progress Report; No. 600), Washington, D.C.: Office of Saline Water, United States Department of the Interior, →OCLC, page 56:Recalibration of the oxymeters was done in January 1969 with a standard solution. Oxygen recordings by the oxymeters were as low as 10 ppb and agreed well with the Winkler tests. The Magna oxymeter was used successfully throughout the operation period to monitor the oxygen level in the deaerated brine.
** 2007, Tim Furniss, David J. Shayler, with Michael D. Shayler, “Soyuz 28”, in Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961–2006 (Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; published in association with Praxis Publishing, →ISBN, page 211:The Chorella experiment studied the growth of algae cultures in a nutrient medium, and an oxymeter was used to study the concentrations of oxygen in human tissue in weightlessness.
* (medicine, specifically) A device that measures the oxygen saturation of arterial blood. [from 1942]
** 1950 January 25, Francis L. Chamberlain, “Therapy of Myocardial Infarction”, in The Bulletin of the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, volume 1, number 5, San Francisco, Calif.: University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, published March 1950, →OCLC, page 544:The Millikan oxymeter, with which Dr. Howard Bierman has been working and which he has discussed with this group, can be attached to the external ear and gives prompt information about oxygen saturation. It is so calibrated that the administration of 97 to 100% oxygen to normal individuals causes an increase of 5 per cent in the oxymeter reading.
** 1967, Arthur B. DuBois, “Exchange of Fluids in Lungs”, in Physiology in the Space Environment: Report of a Conference Conducted by the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, June–July 1966 (Publication; 1485B), volume II (Respiration), Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, →OCLC, page 62:At 8 to 10 G, ear oximeter readings may fall to 75 percent saturation. The lungs, afterward, may show some atelectasis.
** 1988 July, Robert Singer, Paul E. Thomas, “Pulse Oximeter in the Ambulatory Aesthetic Surgical Facility”, in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, volume 82, number 1, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, page 111, column 1; reprinted in “Appendix: Additional Material Submitted for the Record”, in Cosmetic Surgery Procedures: Standards, Quality, and Certification of Nonhospital Operating Rooms—Part III: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Regulation, Business Opportunities, and Energy of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, First Session: […] (Serial No. 101-14), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989 June 28, →OCLC, page 529:The study was designed to evaluate use of the oxygen-saturation monitor (pulse oximeter) in patients undergoing aesthetic surgical procedures with adjunctive intravenous sedation in an office-based ambulatory surgical facility. The objective use of the pulse oximeter in this type of setting has not been previously reported in the plastic surgical literature.
** 1995, Elizabeth H. Thilo, Julia Brockway Curlander, William W. Hay, Jr., “Pulse Oximeter”, in Yves W. Brans, William W. Hay, Jr., editors, Physiological Monitoring and Instrument Diagnosis in Perinatal and Neonatal Medicine, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Oxygenation), page 147, column 2:Two technological advances, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and microprocessors, plus the ingenious idea of analyzing the change in light absorption produced by arterial pulsations, resulted in the development of a new generation of oximeters: the pulse oximeter [...]. Now, clinicians are again thinking of oxygenation as a function of the degree of saturation and oxygen content, as the pulse oximeter becomes the preferred monitoring device.
** 2000 June, “Analytical Methods for Monitoring Carbon Monoxide”, in Air Quality Criteria for Carbon Monoxide (EPA; 600/P-99/001F), Research Triangle Park, N.C.: National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, →OCLC, section 2.6.1 (Carboxyhemoglobin Measurements), page 2-13:Direct reading of COHb usually is performed in the clinical or hospital setting through the use of a direct-reading spectrophotometer, such as a CO-Oximeter (CO-Ox).
** 2003 July, Ronald [F.] Maio, “Project Findings”, in Emergency Medical Services Outcomes Evaluation (Report; No. DOT HS 809 603), Washington, D.C.: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, →OCLC, section 5.2.4.2 (Respiratory Distress), page 38:The pulse oximeter (SpO2) is a fast growing and commonly utilized transcutaneous methodology that represents a combination of oximetry and plethysmographic technologies for screening, treatment planning and evaluation and research [...] Precision of various pulse oximeters were noted [to] be fairly consistent at approximately 2% [...].
** 2015 July 6, Julia Kemmler et al., “Exposure to 100% Oxygen Abolishes the Impairment of Fracture Healing after Thoracic Trauma”, in Jose Manuel Garcia Aznar, editor, PLoS One, volume 10, number 7, San Francisco, Calif.: Public Library of Science, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC:Mice subjected to intermittent O$_2$ treatment were exposed to 100% O$_2$ directly after surgery for two 3 hours intervals, with a period of 3 hours of normal ambient air in between. [...] O$_2$ concentration was continually recorded using an oxymeter.

#### Alternative forms

* oximetre (nonstandard)
* oxymeter (dated, now nonstandard)

#### Hyponyms

* CO-oximeter
* pulse oximeter

#### Derived terms

* CO-oximeter
* oximetric
* oximetry
* pulse oximeter

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Compare “oximeter, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2005; “oximeter, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* 1 2 Elizabeth H. Thilo, Julia Brockway Curlander, William W. Hay, Jr. (1995) “Pulse Oximeter”, in Yves W. Brans and William W. Hay, Jr., editors, Physiological Monitoring and Instrument Diagnosis in Perinatal and Neonatal Medicine, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Oxygenation), page 147, column 1: “Millikan introduced the name ‘oximeter’ for these devices in 1942.”

### Further reading

* pulse oximetry on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* oximetre