Usefulness of the pulse oximeter method for the evaluation of heart rate in conscious rats

Abstract

Pulse oximeters can be a powerful tool to measure heart rate (HR) noninvasively, but their accuracy is still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the accuracy by comparing HR between the pulse oximeter (MouseOx Plus^®) and the telemetry method in telemetered conscious rats administered vehicle, milrinone, or atenolol. As a result, there was a good correlation in the HR with the range from 240 to 435 bpm (R²=0.9996). The significant changes in HR noted in the telemetry method were well noted also in the pulse oximeter. The pulse oximeter can be brief but accurate method for the evaluation of HR.