CNN —The longstanding problem of pulse oximeters providing less-accurate readings for people with dark skin tones is getting another look from a panel of experts for the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA’s Anesthesiology and Respiratory Therapy Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee is meeting Friday to review ways to better evaluate the accuracy and performance of pulse oximeters in patients with darker skin. Pulse oximeters are fingertip clamps that send light beams through your finger to estimate the oxygen saturation of your blood and your pulse rate. “That standard is then applied to all people as a one-size-fits-all, but time and again, we have seen in medicine that this approach leads to poor outcomes for certain groups, especially Black patients,” Ibekie said. “We need to address the root and work harder to conduct research with patients that represent our populations as a whole,” she said.

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Persons: Dionne Ibekie, “, Ibekie, ”, ” Ibekie, “ I’m, Leo Anthony Celi, ” Celi, White, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, US Food and Drug Administration, Medical Devices, FDA, MIT Laboratory, Computational Physiology, MIT Institute for Medical Engineering, Science, Genomics, CNN Health Locations: Illinois