Patent ID: 8788004

Claim:
A method for non-invasively determining an absolute non-pulsatile blood oxygen saturation level within a subject's tissue, said method comprising the steps of: providing a sensor having at least one transducer in communication with a processor, the transducer having at least one light source, a first light detector spaced apart from the light source by a first distance, and a second light detector spaced apart from the light source by a second distance, wherein the first distance is less than the second distance; transmitting light signals from the light source into the subject's tissue, wherein the transmitted light signals include a plurality of wavelengths; sensing the light signals using the first light detector and the second light detector, and communicating information representative of the sensed light signals to the processor; determining an attenuation of the transmitted light signals for each of the plurality of wavelengths using the processor to process the information representative of the sensed light signals; and determining the absolute non-pulsatile blood oxygen saturation level within the subject's tissue using the processor, which determining includes determining a difference in attenuation between the plurality of wavelengths.