[Product Review] Wellue O2Ring initial review

[coldfeet7]

Maybe you would be better off getting their monitor that puts the light on a thumb or finger and the recording device (with battery) is on a band on the wrist. You could wear something under the band to keep any possible heating away from your wrist.  Lithium batteries have a short risk with heat build up. 

I opted for the ring to avoid tangling a wire from the finger to the recorder. I don't wear it on my thumb because it is a little too tight, opting instead to use my index finger where it is so comfortable I barely know it is there. I've never noticed any heating.

I don't use the phone app, on purpose, and instead hook it to my PC to download the data and easily import it into OSCAR.

If you are concerned about support, find the product at the Lookee website. They were very responsive in email (they say they teamed up with Wellue) and are based in the US.

[chrisj]

Returned my o2Ring as the spo2 readings were wildly inaccurate unfortunately - deviating as much as 8% from real values (measured overnight using hospital grade equipment).  Same results on different fingers.  Wellue's claims of 2% accuracy I can only assume are in perfect lab settings, the reality is very different!

If you can get one cheap they're ok as a very rough guide, but absolutely not to be relied on to diagnose hypoxia for example.   Just another finger toy ?

[SleepyCPAP]

I have used the O2Ring for two weeks straight, since it arrived.  This is about as many nights total that I’ve used my old CMS50D+ in the eight years I’ve owned it.  That’s because the O2Ring is so comfortable.

I had the chance to bring it to the doctor’s office with me, and compared to the finger unit they used on me to get my vital signs.  The O2Ring, on the same finger, was very slightly lower than theirs.  The Dr. pulse/ox said 96%, and the O2Ring said 95% at first, finally 96% match.  So maybe a half point off?  My CMS50D+ was also slightly higher than the O2Ring when I used both at home, I’d found that my CMSD50+ matched the Dr. in the past. 
That is good enough for me to trust the O2Ring.  If it says I had a dip to 86%, maybe reality was closer to 87%, but roughly the same.

What is most appealing is how easily I get the data into OSCAR.  The CMSD50+ used to load completely in SleepyHead, but OSCAR 1.2.0 will only import a portion, making it useless to check the whole night. I’m getting up in the night to use the bathroom, so the limitation of only one session on the CMSD50+ was getting to be a problem too.  Thus the splurge in purchasing the O2Ring, which I got for around $150 with a coupon (about 3x the cost of the CMSD50+ eight years ago).  I connect the O2Ring on my iPad first (or I could do my iPhone), download the binary file data to a shared folder online, and then import it to OSCAR on my Mac laptop, using the “Import Viacom Data” selection in the Data menu.  Success every time.

To make sure the times match correctly, I’ve set my ResMed APAP clock to match my iPad, since the O2Ring does the same.  The on-screen zoom shows desaturations appear just past each OA, CA, or H on the OSCAR “Daily” screen, just as it would in a lab.

I do find the O2Ring is slow to start.  I put it on my finger first as I’m going to bed, that way as I fiddle with my mask and start breathing it has started.  Not that I need to know my SpO2 from that first few seconds of going to bed, but I like it to appear pretty soon.

The Wellue O2Ring battery use is not challenged by my 7-hour sleep, it has more than half in reserve each morning, and recharges at breakfast while plugged into my laptop.  

I can also have it download to the O2 Insight Pro software on my Mac laptop.  That produces the overnight reports that doctors are used to seeing.  So far I haven’t submitting any reports, but I have them.  

I’ve turned off the vibration alert for low SpO2 dips.  My desats don’t last long, and I would rather not be disturbed from my sleep.  I guess pilots or people who have long bad desats might want to be buzzed, and would leave the setting on.  Settings are controlled from my iOS device, in the ViHealth app.

The ViHealth app shows the SpO2 chart in green when it is in the 95% and higher ranges, and begins to shade yellow, then red, on the dips that go low.  Easy “at a glance” idea.  

I’m teaching myself a new trick. This records motion detection.  If I briefly wake in the night, I try to remember to shake my hand around.  That way a large movement shows up on the data the next morning, and I can see when that awakening happened, and if an apnea or leak had occurred just before.  I have not tried the O2Ring on a toe, but I imagine it would be useful to note any leg movements (“restless leg syndrome” is not a component of my sleep apnea, but maybe for others reading this?).

Note that Wellue’s literature sometimes says this takes an O2 sample every second, but it exports at four second resolution.  If you’ve got the need for exact second-by-second data, I don’t think there is a work-around.  The company’s O2 Max (bigger version) says it reports in two second resolution (but I don’t know if that one works with OSCAR).

- SleepyCPAP

[NelsonM]

Nice writeup! I have an O2Ring also and it's been very helpful to me. I used it even before I got the OSA diagnosis; the graph showing my constant desaturations all night was a strong motivator to get the OSA diagnosed and treated. Now I use it every few nights just to keep track of how the CPAP treatment is going. The improvement in oxygenation was immediate and obvious when I started CPAP. But there's still variance some nights and I'm finding the SpO2 data is a useful companion to the CPAP data that OSCAR collects.

The ViHealth mobile app is OK but for me I mostly use the desktop O2Insight software. It's not awesome but it handles importing data (via USB) very well. The key feature is it shows a zoomed in second-by-second graph so you can see details of problems.

   

Note that O2Ring data is easily imported in to OSCAR (via Import Viatom Data). It works great but the clocks aren't synchronized so the two time-series won't be aligned perfectly.

I am using the vibration alarm, set pretty low (88% or something). My main source of apnea events with CPAP is if I sleep flat on my back; that still causes a problem for me once or twice a night. The alarm wakes me up enough to realize I need to roll over. That works as long as it's a rare event. (While I was waiting on the CPAP I tried to use it to "treat" my OSA entirely and basically it just buzzed all night and I was so exhausted I slept through it.)

Note that Wellue’s literature sometimes says this takes an O2 sample every second, but it exports at four second resolution.

Yes that's right. But weirdly the data file actually records data every two seconds; it just writes a duplicate for the second record. I find every 4 seconds is fine; it's just about once a breath. Many cheap consumer blood oxygen sensors show you an average reading over 15-60 seconds; that's not nearly as useful for understanding sleep apnea problems. It's good enough for other purposes though.

I believe oxygenation data is really useful in understanding my sleep apnea, as much as the OSCAR CPAP data. I'm glad to have an SpO2 sensor that works so well.

[gettingbetter]

I, too, have a Wellvue Ring and find mine to be pretty accurate (as compared to my finger pulse oximeter).  If anything, it reads 2-3% below my finger pulse oximeter.  It's very easy to download the stats each morning to O2 Insight Pro on my Mac.  

It looks like some of you have had success syncing the Wellvue with Oscar on a Mac.  If so, I'd love to have some pointers.  I tried to sync my Wellvue to my Mac, and was unable to do so.  

If anyone is able to give any pointers, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks1