Pulse oximeter monitor for expressing the urgency of the patient's condition

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present inventors recognized several disadvantages inherent in the pulse oximeter monitor technology described in the prior art.
First, in order to be able to interpret the information contained in the variations of the pitch of the audible sounds created by the prior art devices, a health care individual such as a nurse must be able to put the audible sounds in the correct context.
To audibly detect a problem, the individual must have some experience in discerning the difference between a sound pitch which is within tolerances and a sound pitch which is indicative of a problem.
Using sound pitch as the measure of oxygen saturation therefore requires cognitive thought by the individual who has been trained to recognize the sound pitches associated with low oxygen saturation conditions.
Such high-level thought processes occur more slowly, and are more prone to mistakes in judgment, than are other, more instinctive, thought processes.
Second, the monitors described in the prior art which use sound pitch as an indication of low oxygen saturation do not exploit the psychological response of humans to associate particular sounds with danger or trouble.
Because there is nothing inherent in the pitch of a sound itself which is indicative of a problem, individuals must use high-level thought processes to translate the change of sound pitch into a measure of the patient's condition.
Third, various individuals have different abilities to detect differences or changes in sound pitch.
Ear defects or injuries of the individual monitoring the patient's condition can impact the individual's ability to immediately detect a problem with the patient's oxygen saturation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a monitor for a pulse oximeter which emits an audible sound containing information regarding the patient's condition that requires less training and subjective judgment by the individual monitoring the patient's condition.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a monitor for a pulse oximeter which emits an audible sound containing information regarding the patient's condition that can be more quickly interpreted by the individual monitoring the patient's condition