With COVID-19 still remaining a threat to national health, it is important to have the right at-home care nearby. The OxyKnight Watch is a clinical grade wrist pulse oximetry device designed for continuous use. For those diagnosed with COVID-19, spot-check pulse oximeters are not enough to help monitor your overall condition as oxygen levels can drop unexpectedly. The Oxyknight watch was designed to work continuously through the night and during the day, and is equipped with the ability to alert the user directly or through a paired app. It can also alert others within the home if an ill family member drops below their set threshold levels.

Monitoring your Oxygen Levels 

For patients diagnosed with Covid-19, monitoring your oxygen levels can be crucial to understanding the state of your health. It is possible for your body to experience and adjust to lowered oxygen levels before you actually experience symptoms. Often times, pulse oximetry can alert you to breathing trouble before you even feel it.

One great example comes from an NPR interview with Dr. Richard Levitan, an experienced emergency medicine doctor who specializes in airway management. During the interview, Dr. Levitan states, "These COVID patients have adapted to this slow, insidious drop in their oxygen and they don't know it," he told NPR. "Then when they come in with shortness of breath, it is late in the process."

In his opinion, a pulse oximeter could have caught the warning sign of low blood oxygen level earlier on (NPR, 2020). 

Covid-19 Induced Pneumonia

COVID induced pneumonia is known to act differently than normal pneumonia in the sense that it does not cause breathing difficulties from the start. COVID-19 pneumonia often begins by causing silent hypoxia in which the patient is afflicted with lowered oxygen levels without feeling symptoms (Teo, 2020). By the time patient arrives at the hospital, their lungs have already been damaged and they are in the later stages of pneumonia. This is even more dangerous considering that the virus is known to cause air sacs to collapse, unlike normal pneumonia which simply causes them to fill with pus (Teo, 2020). 

Monitoring blood-oxygen levels can help prevent the severity of silent hypoxia by alerting the user to a problem before they feel symptoms. Early detection can result in a less severe case of infection, and may help to reduce the damaging effects of the COVID-19 virus.

If you or a loved one are diagnosed with COVID-19, a continuous use pulse oximeter can make a huge difference in the overall understanding and treatment of the illness. Silent hypoxemia can result in a drop of oxygen levels at anytime, making continuous monitoring a necessity for those dealing with the virus. CMI Health's OxyKnight Watch is not only designed for continuous monitoring, but it allows the user(s) to be alerted via phone. They can also track and monitor their data through the app.

Purchase your Oxyknight Watch here!

References: 

Teo J. (2020). Early Detection of Silent Hypoxia in Covid-19 Pneumonia Using Smartphone Pulse Oximetry. Journal of medical systems, 44(8), 134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-020-01587-6

Wamsley, L. (2020, May 01). Coronavirus FAQS: What's A Pulse Oximeter? Is It A Good Idea To Buy One? Retrieved November 18, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/01/848400469/coronavirus-faqs-whats-a-pulse-oximeter-is-it-a-good-idea-to-buy-one