Federal health officials are proposing changes to make sure medical devices that measure oxygen levels are working for patients of color

Years of research have showed that pulse oximeters yield less accurate readings for people with darker skin tones, and now the US Food and Drug Administration is proposing guidance to help make these devices more reliable and less biased.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday bolstered its recommendations for pulse oximeter testing following public uproar over how inaccurate readings led to different medical care for patients of color during the pandemic.

Rather than relying on those testing the devices to judge skin tones, the draft guidance suggests manufacturers should use both the newly developed Monk Skin Tone scale and another scale, called the individual typology angle (ITA), which is based on spectrophotometric measurements.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a long-awaited plan aimed at improving how pulse oximeters work on people with darker skin — an effort that comes years after research showing that the devices’ inaccuracies led to delays in covid-19 treatment for Black patients.

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft guidance would require manufacturers of pulse oximeters to gather far more clinical data to show the devices accurately work across a range of skin tones. The long-awaited guidance released Monday comes in response to mounting evidence that the devices,

The agency is proposing that device manufacturers improve their testing to including larger, more diverse sample sizes.

Pulse oximeters help doctors evaluate a person's pulse rate and the oxygen saturation of your blood. The FDA is proposing changes to make them more accurate.

If you use a pulse oximeter for health monitoring, know that the FDA is working to improve their accuracy for all skin tones, reducing potential risks for patients of color.