Noninvasive Hemoglobin Monitor Improves Patient Management

A device that that continuously measures blood hemoglobin levels is accurate in a clinical setting, and does not require phlebotomy.

The monitoring sensor is placed on the finger of the patient and it continually displays the level of hemoglobin in the blood - a critical parameter for those in intensive care units or undergoing surgery.


A study carried out at the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center (Englewood, NJ, USA), evaluated the accuracy of Rainbow ReSposable Sensor, for the noninvasive measurement of hemoglobin blood levels (SpHb). The measurement were made on nine intensive care unit (ICU) patients with critically low hemoglobin levels (ranging from 4.3 g/dL - 8.6 g/dL) and were compared with invasive blood samples drawn simultaneously and analyzed by a central laboratory. The SpHb levels were continuously displayed on a Radical-7 Pulse CO-Oximeter.

The results of the study showed a mean bias of 0.70 g/dL and a precision of 1.05 g/dL for SpHb, and when compared to reference laboratory, hemoglobin values demonstrated clinically acceptable agreement. The investigators concluded that the ability to measure hemoglobin noninvasively and continuously has the potential to facilitate the timely detection of changes in hemoglobin and thus improve patient blood-management decisions in patients with critically low hemoglobin. Both the Rainbow ReSposable Sensor and the Radical-7 Pulse CO-Oximeter are manufactured by Masimo, (Irvine, CA, USA). SpHb is available as part of the Masimo rainbow SET platform.

Anna Juhl, R.N., the lead investigator, said, "Two important elements of Patient Blood Management (PBM) are the management of postoperative blood loss with any resulting anemia, and only transfusing based on clinical and laboratory guided evidence. The results of this study show that Masimo SpHb may help aid clinicians in achieving the goals of PBM in a timely fashion with less blood loss to the patient." The study was presented at the Annual Critical Care Congress held January 15-19, 2011 in San Diego (CA, USA).

Related Links:
Englewood Hospital
Masimo