Exploring the bias: how skin color influences oxygen saturation readings via Monte Carlo simulations

Monte Carlo simulations have demonstrated that different light pathlengths within the tissue contribute to the overestimation of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>SpO</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> in people with darker skin in reflection mode pulse oximetry. Increasing the SD separation may mitigate the effect of skin tone on <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>SpO</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> readings. These trends were not observed in transmission mode; however, further planned research using more complex models of the tissue is essential.