This content is for the Kenek Edge pulse oximeter.


Intended Use

The Kenek Edge pulse oximeter by LionsGate Technologies (LGThealth) is an iOS app (available from Apple App Store) and audio-port finger sensor (available from Amazon) for spot-checking blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate.  The device should only be used while the user is not moving and not engaging in vigorous activity. 


The Kenek Edge pulse oximeter is not a medical device and is not intended or available for sale for medical or clinical use by physicians or patients.



About Signal Quality Index

Measuring your SpO2 (blood oxygen) and heart rate accurately is a critical design goal in Kenek Edge.  It is not enough to just shine light through your finger tip - it is essential to determine that the quality of the data is high so that the resulting measures are reliable.

When you export your data using Kenek Edge, the last column in the data is the signal quality measure - the Signal Quality Index or SQI.  It indicates how reliable the source data was that Kenek Edge processed to get the SpO2 and heart rate measurements.

Ideally, SQI should be as close to 100% as possible.  Factors that lower SQI may include movement, poor circulation, bruising or fingernail polish, finger poorly positioned, particularly thick or thin skin, irregular heart rate, or iOS settings.   Kenek Edge is designed to detect most of these effects and remain reliably accurate.  Where possible, it is advisable to take steps to maximize SQI by mitigating these factors.

Note that abrupt changes in actual SpO2 or heart rate may also cause the SQI to drop briefly.  Even if they are accurately measured, such changes represent an unusual event that the SQI registers.

In general, SQI values above 75 are deemed acceptable and lower values - down to and including 0 - are tolerable for very short transient period.

Low Signal Error and Signal Quality

If SQI falls too low for an extended period, Kenek Edge may suspend measurement updates for a short period or even show you an error condition like Low Signal.  It should never show you an unreliable measurement based on poor data quality.  When SQI is too low for too long, Kenek Edge will record zero values for SpO2 and heart rate and present the orange error icon.

If you are seeing low SQI occasionally when you record or even intermittently during longer sessions, that should not be a problem - as long as the SpO2 and heart rate measurements are still being shown and updated.  Transient low SQI may be caused by occasional movement, for example, and should quickly recover once you stop moving.  However if SQI is always bouncing around no matter how still you are, you should try other fingers, warming your hands up, remove nail polish, or consider other factors that are interfering with optimal measurements.  A subject may also have a cardiac condition that results in an excessively variable heart rate that cannot be reliably processed and reduces SQI.

Your goal and expectation should be to have SQI near 100% almost all the time.  This should appear on the screen as a clear and regular waveform of your pulse rate.   If you are having trouble achieving high SQI or repeatedly seeing the Low Signal error, you should investigate further or contact LGThealth Support.

Here are some examples of the waveform (called the PPG) and how they may appear with respect to SQI:



Good Signal Quality - regular, large waves



Low Signal Quality - regular, but small waves


Poor Signal Quality - irregular, noisy



SQI on the Graphs and Charts

A variety of charts, graphs and statistics are generated by Kenek Quick Grapher.  A typical graph is shown below.  By clicking on the "Show signal quality" checkbox at the top, the SQI can be added to the graphs in gray.



  1. Print report - prints the entire report on your printer
  2. Detail level - increase number to smooth data (10 is default)
  3. Show SQI - optional graphing (in grey) of signal quality index
  4. Graphs of SpO2 and heart rate - shown for selected data; axis on the left is both % SpO2 and bpm; axis on bottom is time; optional SQI
  5. Data selector - move the knobs on left and right to select data shown in 4.
  6. SpO2 distribution charts - cumulative density function on the left; probability density function on the right
  7. Heart rate distribution charts - cumulative density function on the left; probability density function on the right
  8. Recording time - statistics of the recording time for this data
  9. Max/min/mean - maximum, minimum and typical values for SpO2 and heart rate
  10. SpO2 Events - amount of time, number of events (changes), and mean time per event at each level of SpO2
  11. Expanded graphs - SpO2 and heart rate shown in detail; optional SQI
  12. (not shown at bottom) Metadata - details of the app version, date of export, email address, Apple device


       


 Please let us know how to improve the Kenek Edge Grapher - feedback@lgthealth.com