oximetry

[ ok-sim-i-tree ]

noun

, Medicine/Medical.

1. the measuring of the percentage of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin in the blood by means of an oximeter. Readings below 90 percent may be indicative of impaired lung function or infection. In noninvasive pulse oximetry, a small device placed on a fingertip or earlobe uses light waves to measure the oxygen saturation in arterial blood.

Word History and Origins

Origin of oximetry¹

First recorded in 1940–45; ox- + -i- + -metry