Traditional pulse oximeter use was in hospital in a number of important applications such as surgery and rehabilitation as well as life support. The idea being that the pulse oximeter was able to detect problems of low blood oxygenation in a non-invasive way before physical signs began to show and before the problem became more serious. Oximeters are also widely used in the diagnosis of sleep apnoea, a disorder whereby the patient’s breathing is interrupted either totally or partly during sleep.

The purpose of sleep is to repair our minds and bodies from the stresses of the previous day. Just a few nights of shortened sleep can cause blunted memory retrieval, but chronic, long-term, sleep deprivation significantly impacts the brain and affects mood.