Mt. Sinai’s Light & Health Research Center has been awarded $2.84M to study pulse oximeter risks for persons with dark skin pigmentation. The grant will be disbursed over a four-year period, with $794,654 being granted the first year.
We first heard about this issue when your humble editor interviewed Mariana Figueiro, the Director of Mt. Sinai’s Light & Health Research Center in early 2021. In the interview Figueiro discussed a JAMA study showing a bias in the readings of pulse oximeters. She explained that people who have a darker skin tend to have higher readings. During Covid, people may have been sent home from the emergency room who should have been admitted to the hospital because of those faulty readings. Watch the interview below.
Read about the grant here.