Towards Simultaneous Noninvasive Arterial and Venous Oxygenation Monitoring with Wearable E-Tattoo*

While noninvasive arterial blood oxygenation is easily estimated using peripheral pulse oximeters, noninvasive venous blood oxygenation monitoring is still a critical unmet need. Critical conditions that lead to inefficient extraction of oxygen from the blood, such as sepsis or shock, can only be detected by analyzing the oxygen content of the venous blood. In this work, we introduce a soft wearable e-tattoo sensor that simultaneously measures the arterial and venous pulses from the wrist. First, we prove that the origin of the signal is venous pulsatility. We hypothesize that a significant obstacle for simultaneous SaO2 and SvO2 extraction is the close proximity of the artery and vein, thus leading to crosstalk. We characterize this crosstalk with simulation, in vitro, and in vivo experiments. Finally, we offer a potential solution for minimizing the crosstalk through spatial filtering.Clinical Relevance— This lays foundational work for a novel method of noninvasively and simultaneously measuring arterial and venous blood oxygenation to improve clinical diagnoses of sepsis, shock, and metabolic abnormalities.