Recording Oximeter Cost

I am interested in purchasing a Recording Oximeter that can be uploaded to my computer and measures O2 saturation level and the time the measure was recorded. It appears from prior posts here that there are some available that aren’t real expensive. It would be nice to have whatever cable is needed to upload with and the software to upload it with.

My sleep doctor had Apria leave one off last week for the second time and it showed the total time my saturation was below 75% and the time above 90% but apparently it does not give an hour by hour rundown which is kind of worthless. They now want another sleep study to consider changing me from the cpap to a bipap. The rational seems to be that it has a higher pressure for breathing in and a lower resistance to exhaling to better oxygenate my lungs. I am not sure I really buy this rational based on what I would consider faulty information from Apria who incidentally is attempting to charge BCBS $542 per day for the device. They had it out 2 times since the first reading was as inconclusive as the second one. I am not that sympathetic to the insurance company but Apria is asking for a $100 copay which is a lot of bs. I checked the make an model they sent out and the cost for the same unit at Amazon was $545.

Roger

http://www.pulseoxstore.com/Downloadable-Pulse-Ox.html

This site seem to carry most of the recording oximeters I've seen on this forum.

Do a search for "SPO2 wrist" on ebay
I've never had any problems with purchasing these from china.
Many members have the CMS-50F and I'm not aware of anyone having any problems.
It's a 24 hour recording wrist SPo2 meter with rechargeable batteries and the required software for about $100

Is there duty to pay and what is the process to get these things from China thru Customs to the USA? I found one on E-bay I am interested in, a fingertip tip model that has a USB cable and a CD of software, and it records for 30 hours tops, but they give the price as "42 AU", which I guess is Australian dollars, and I have no idea how to convert that to US Dollar amount. Can anyone answer how much that is in US dollars, and is there a customs fee to pay also?

Apria did an overnight pulse ox on me about a month ago per Dr orders, and I found I am still desatting to 87% for short periods of time while asleep, so I want to record mine for several nights and see if I can pinpoint the problem by comparing the data downloads from the Oximeter and the SD card in my Resmed S9 Auto. UHC says they are not covering a bill for $75.00 that they say my med ins policy does not cover, but I plan to appeal it as soon as Apria sends me a bill. I think they submitted the claim with the wrong diagnosis code, since I believe insurance would pay if it was coded as SOB (ICD9 786.05) and sleep apnea (ICD9 327.23), and also put my COPD with asthma diagnosis on the claim (ICD9 493.20).

The Australian dollar is about the same as the US$. I don't know about US customs duties

The CMS-50D PLUS from pulseoxstore works fine. Costs under $100. Be sure to get the PLUS, not the CMS-50D. Only the PLUS records.

It comes with the cable and software.

The software is a tiny bit clunky. If you use it not connected to the computer, it doesn't know the start time, so you have to figure out when you started and add time to match it to your CPAP data.

If you plug it into the computer while sleeping, it records the correct time. Useful if you sleep next to the computer.

The 50D uses AA batteries, not a built in rechargeable batteries. I like this. Built in rechargeables eventually leave you with a dead device.

It's a finger clip device, not a wrist strap device. Works fine for me.

It's not wireless. You use a USB cable. I hate to try and make wireless things work.

For the difference in price, I would get the wrist model, 50F. It is more comfortable. The 50H I bought cut off the circulation in my finger.
The 50F also keeps the time so you don't have to set the clock everytime you want to record.
I leave it connected after I download to recharge.
I just gave mine to a friend and got another one for under $100.

archangle wrote:The CMS-50D PLUS from pulseoxstore works fine. Costs under $100. Be sure to get the PLUS, not the CMS-50D. Only the PLUS records.

It comes with the cable and software.

Looks good but have you had any problems keeping the unit on your finger during sleep? Can you tape it on or would that make it give inaccurate information due to the tape?

Roger

Roger2 wrote:Looks good but have you had any problems keeping the unit on your finger during sleep? Can you tape it on or would that make it give inaccurate information due to the tape?

You can add a bit of tape to help keep it secure. It doesn't affect information because it is on the outside of the device and does not act as a barrier between device and skin.

Amazon has the CMS50E for $94 including shipping. http://www.amazon.com/Contec-Full-Colou ... 014&sr=8-1

I've had one for 9months and used it frequently. I've never had it fall off. If that's a problem, a strip of painter's tape will keep it in place. There are other models, but the 50E seems to be the most popular so far.

Roger2 wrote: Looks good but have you had any problems keeping the unit on your finger during sleep? Can you tape it on or would that make it give inaccurate information due to the tape?

Roger

I put it on my thumb. I haven't had any problems keeping it on. I do sleep in a recliner, so I don't flop around as much as some people may.

I would like to thank everyone for the replies and the information which was most valuable. I just ordered the CMS-50D Plus for $84.00 plus shipping with a total of $90.00 from pulseoxstore.com. This unit seems to be the most used by everyone here and so far I have not heard anything on the negative side that would dissuade me from ordering it.

That ends my quest for information on the oximiter but I am still wondering about my sleep doctor’s assistant wanting to switch me to a bipap if another sleep study shows a possible need. From what I have read on this site so far about a bipap it is nowhere as easy to use as a cpap which I had a GREAT deal of difficulty getting accustomed to using. I am not yet totally used to that machine after over two months. I guess I will have to see where this leads but so far I am really resisting the change. I go to these physicians for their advice and guidance, not to rule my life!

Once again, thanks to one and all.

Roger

Roger2 wrote:I would like to thank everyone for the replies and the information which was most valuable. I just ordered the CMS-50D Plus for $84.00 plus shipping with a total of $90.00 from pulseoxstore.com. This unit seems to be the most used by everyone here and so far I have not heard anything on the negative side that would dissuade me from ordering it.

That ends my quest for information on the oximiter but I am still wondering about my sleep doctor’s assistant wanting to switch me to a bipap if another sleep study shows a possible need. From what I have read on this site so far about a bipap it is nowhere as easy to use as a cpap which I had a GREAT deal of difficulty getting accustomed to using. I am not yet totally used to that machine after over two months. I guess I will have to see where this leads but so far I am really resisting the change. I go to these physicians for their advice and guidance, not to rule my life!

Once again, thanks to one and all.

Roger

Ive been using the 50F for a couple of days now. here's some tips for downloading the data to the PC.

plug the meter into the USB
open the o02Review.exe program (not the main exe)
click new session, it waits for data,
click on the meter to upload data.
then you have the data in c:/program_files/sp02meter folder.

here's a?
Inight before I got an 85% reading,
last night I got a 75% and a few under 90.

can this meter read inaccurately for such a point in time? that's not a nice number.

the original sleep study had me with a nadir of 89%, so I know I can go below that "medically significant" number, but it was only one night. that's why i got the meter.

Ill take this data to the specialist in a few weeks, but can the meter's data be relied upon for a few events per night?

and does anyone know if this meter plugs into CPAP machines, if so , which ones?

alsp, the Chinglish manual for the meter says not to put the finger unit on a finger for more than 2 hours. I'd guess that this is in case of allergies. (could my low O2's be when I changed fingers? - I'll note the times I change fingers tonight and see if that correlates).

Nope I just tested it in real time with Sp02.exe, taking the unit off a finger levels out, it doesnt show a spike reduction.. so I have an issue there to follow up on.

what a cool gadget.

another question, the manual says they need calibrating after a time. do they? how much does that cost? has anyone used one for years without calibrating and does it seem accurate?

My CMS-50D Plus came yesterday and I recorded last nights sleep session and downloaded the data into my pc this morning. It seems to work really well and the unit stayed on my finger with no problems. At first it seemed like it might be a little loose so I put a rubber band around it but woke up a couple of hours later with my finger throbbing so I took the rubber band off and as indicated, had no problems with it staying on by itself.

The lowest saturation reading was 86% several times which didn't seem all that bad in contrast to the measurements Apria gave to my sleep doctor assistant which showed the lowest around 76% after their overnight study.

Does anyone know how accurate this unit is?

Roger

Roger2 wrote: Does anyone know how accurate this unit is?

Put it on while awake. What's your reading? Breathe deeply for a minute or two. Not enough to get dizzy, just enough to be fully oxygenated. See what the reading is.

I feel reasonably confident in mine, especially since, if it reads 90%, I'm not really that concerned whether the "real" number is 88 or 92% as long as it registers changes correctly. i.e. I'm concerned if it drops a lot during the night, not so much the absolute reading.

By the way, I find it's almost impossible to hold my breath and make the SPO2 reading drop. I have to exhale all the air from my lungs and hold my breath until I think I'm dying before it drops. It wiggles around a little bit in the mid 90s when I'm breathing normally.

One thing it will probably do. Occasionally, it will show a really low reading for just a few seconds. Or it will get no reading and the trace will turn gray on the chart. This is an indication of it not getting a reading, not a real drop in SPO2. I don't think your real SPO2 can drop 20% in 10 seconds or so.