Designs for a low-cost, 3D-printed blood-oxygen sensor have been shared by engineers at the University of Bath to help in the fight against Covid-19.
The do-it-yourself ‘Open Oximeter’ sensor, designed by a team of engineers and scientists, can be created by anyone with a 3D printer and basic electronics skills. Costing less than £10 it will accurately monitor a person’s blood-oxygen levels – a key symptom of Covid-19.
Based on existing commercial sensors, the oximeter is worn on a finger clip and measures the reflection of different wavelengths of light, tracking the wearer’s heart rate and saturated percentage of oxygen (SpO2).
The design, which comprises a sensor, readout electronics and software, has been published in the Journal of Open Hardware. The design files have been shared on GitLab.
It was created in response to the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, during which staff from the University’s Faculty of Engineering and Design