Rapid method for measurement of oxygen in human blood.

Traditionally, the oxygen content of blood has been determined by the Van Slyke vacuum extraction and manometric method. This method, although offering good accuracy and precision, suffers from several disadvantages. The operator needs extensive training and practice, the apparatus needs careful handling and cleaning, and the reagents must be made frequently and degassed. An instrument (“Lex-02-Con”) is now commercially available for measuring the oxygen content of blood by use of an oxygen galvanic cell. Wilson and Layer, in a recent review of oxygen analysis, comment that to date no assessment of the clinical reliability and accuracy of the Lex-02-Con has been published. Here, we compare results from the Lex-02-Con and Van Slyke methods for 90 samples of blood taken from 18 different human patients during cardiac catheterization.