Knowing your blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) allows you to assess your physical condition, formulate fitness goals and decide on an appropriate training intensity, all in real time. When you are engaged in outdoor activities over rapidly changing altitudes, this data can give you an idea of how your body is reacting to the changing circumstances. Combining this figure with heart rate data makes it possible to calculate a range of physiological data that can assist you to assess the effectiveness of your exercise program.* Users can also this information to develop an understanding of their sleep history by recording data on sleep time, REM sleep periods and in-sleep movement.
Our blood's hemoglobin is key to accurately detecting blood oxygen saturation. The level of oxygen contained in hemoglobin affects our bloods absorption of red and infrared light rays. By emitting light at these two frequencies, sensors on wearable devices can detect pulse data. Using this data, Garmin's specialised algorithms are able to calculate an estimate of the user's blood oxygen saturation.
Our blood's hemoglobin is key to accurately detecting blood oxygen saturation. The level of oxygen contained in hemoglobin affects our bloods absorption of red and infrared light rays.
High oxygen saturation
Infrared light absorption > red light absorption
Low oxygen saturation
Infrared light absorption < red light absorption