health and wellness
A smartphone’s camera and flash could help people measure blood oxygen levels at home
When we breathe in, our lungs fill with oxygen, which is distributed to our red blood cells for transportation throughout our bodies. Our bodies need a lot of oxygen to function, and healthy people have at least 95% oxygen saturation all the time.
Last Updated on May 21, 2024 by Daily News Staff
Dennis Wise/University of Washington
In a proof-of-principle study, University of Washington and University of California San Diego researchers have shown that smartphones are capable of detecting blood oxygen saturation levels down to 70%. The technique involves having participants place their finger over the camera and flash of a smartphone, which uses a deep-learning algorithm to decipher the blood oxygen levels from the blood flow patterns in the resulting video.
In a proof-of-principle study, University of Washington and University of California San Diego researchers have shown that smartphones are capable of detecting blood oxygen saturation levels down to 70%. The technique involves having participants place their finger over the camera and flash of a smartphone, which uses a deep-learning algorithm to decipher the blood oxygen levels from the blood flow patterns in the resulting video.
Newswise — First, pause and take a deep breath.
When we breathe in, our lungs fill with oxygen, which is distributed to our red blood cells for transportation throughout our bodies. Our bodies need a lot of oxygen to function, and healthy people have at least 95% oxygen saturation all the time.
Conditions like asthma or COVID-19 make it harder for bodies to absorb oxygen from the lungs. This leads to oxygen saturation percentages that drop to 90% or below, an indication that medical attention is needed.
In a clinic, doctors monitor oxygen saturation using pulse oximeters — those clips you put over your fingertip or ear. But monitoring oxygen saturation at home multiple times a day could help patients keep an eye on COVID symptoms, for example.
In a proof-of-principle study, University of Washington and University of California San Diego researchers have shown that smartphones are capable of detecting blood oxygen saturation levels down to 70%. This is the lowest value that pulse oximeters should be able to measure, as recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The technique involves participants placing their finger over the camera and flash of a smartphone, which uses a deep-learning algorithm to decipher the blood oxygen levels. When the team delivered a controlled mixture of nitrogen and oxygen to six subjects to artificially bring their blood oxygen levels down, the smartphone correctly predicted whether the subject had low blood oxygen levels 80% of the time.
The team published these results Sept. 19 in npj Digital Medicine.
“Other smartphone apps that do this were developed by asking people to hold their breath. But people get very uncomfortable and have to breathe after a minute or so, and that’s before their blood-oxygen levels have gone down far enough to represent the full range of clinically relevant data,” said co-lead author Jason Hoffman, a UW doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. “With our test, we’re able to gather 15 minutes of data from each subject. Our data shows that smartphones could work well right in the critical threshold range.”
Another benefit of measuring blood oxygen levels on a smartphone is that almost everyone has one.
“This way you could have multiple measurements with your own device at either no cost or low cost,” said co-author Dr. Matthew Thompson, professor of family medicine in the UW School of Medicine. “In an ideal world, this information could be seamlessly transmitted to a doctor’s office. This would be really beneficial for telemedicine appointments or for triage nurses to be able to quickly determine whether patients need to go to the emergency department or if they can continue to rest at home and make an appointment with their primary care provider later.”
The team recruited six participants ranging in age from 20 to 34. Three identified as female, three identified as male. One participant identified as being African American, while the rest identified as being Caucasian.
To gather data to train and test the algorithm, the researchers had each participant wear a standard pulse oximeter on one finger and then place another finger on the same hand over a smartphone’s camera and flash. Each participant had this same set up on both hands simultaneously.
“The camera is recording a video: Every time your heart beats, fresh blood flows through the part illuminated by the flash,” said senior author Edward Wang, who started this project as a UW doctoral student studying electrical and computer engineering and is now an assistant professor at UC San Diego’s Design Lab and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
“The camera records how much that blood absorbs the light from the flash in each of the three color channels it measures: red, green and blue,” said Wang, who also directs the UC San Diego DigiHealth Lab. “Then we can feed those intensity measurements into our deep-learning model.”
Each participant breathed in a controlled mixture of oxygen and nitrogen to slowly reduce oxygen levels. The process took about 15 minutes. For all six participants, the team acquired more than 10,000 blood oxygen level readings between 61% and 100%.
The researchers used data from four of the participants to train a deep learning algorithm to pull out the blood oxygen levels. The remainder of the data was used to validate the method and then test it to see how well it performed on new subjects.
“Smartphone light can get scattered by all these other components in your finger, which means there’s a lot of noise in the data that we’re looking at,” said co-lead author Varun Viswanath, a UW alumnus who is now a doctoral student advised by Wang at UC San Diego. “Deep learning is a really helpful technique here because it can see these really complex and nuanced features and helps you find patterns that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see.”
The team hopes to continue this research by testing the algorithm on more people.
“One of our subjects had thick calluses on their fingers, which made it harder for our algorithm to accurately determine their blood oxygen levels,” Hoffman said. “If we were to expand this study to more subjects, we would likely see more people with calluses and more people with different skin tones. Then we could potentially have an algorithm with enough complexity to be able to better model all these differences.”
But, the researchers said, this is a good first step toward developing biomedical devices that are aided by machine learning.
“It’s so important to do a study like this,” Wang said. “Traditional medical devices go through rigorous testing. But computer science research is still just starting to dig its teeth into using machine learning for biomedical device development and we’re all still learning. By forcing ourselves to be rigorous, we’re forcing ourselves to learn how to do things right.”
Additional co-authors are Xinyi Ding, a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University; Eric Larson, associate professor of computer science at Southern Methodist University; Caiwei Tian, who completed this research as a UW undergraduate student; and Shwetak Patel, UW professor in both the Allen School and the electrical and computer engineering department. This research was funded by the University of Washington. The researchers have applied for a patent that covers systems and methods for SpO2 classification using smartphones (application number: 17/164,745).
Source: University of Washington
Food and Beverage
4 Daily Brain Health Habits for Better Cognition
Daily Brain Health Habits: Your brain works hard for you, so it’s only fair to return the favor by practicing simple everyday habits to keep this important organ strong and thriving. Start by tweaking your daily routine to focus on these four habits and eating nourishing recipes like California Grape and Sardine Avocado Toast.
4 Daily Brain Health Habits for Better Cognition
(Feature Impact) Your brain works hard for you, so it’s only fair to return the favor by practicing simple everyday habits to keep this important organ strong and thriving.
Start by tweaking your daily routine to focus on these four habits.
Prioritize Sleep
Getting quality sleep is vital for proper brain function. If you find you’ve slipped into the habit of staying up later than you should or notice your sleep being disrupted during the night, those are signs to revisit your sleep hygiene practices. Start by establishing a regular bedtime and wake-up time that will give you the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep. Turn your bedroom into a comfortable refuge from the world – keep it cool and dark, and set up fans or noise machines if you need them to quiet your mind. Avoid consuming caffeine or alcohol too close to bedtime and try switching to a book instead of a screen when it’s time to wind down.
Eat Smart
Just like the rest of the body, the brain is nourished by food. Some of its favorite foods are options rich in healthy fats like fish, avocado, olive oil and nuts, as well as vegetables like leafy greens, which offer carotenoids, and fruits such as grapes, which deliver antioxidants and other polyphenols.
Combine several of these powerful brain-boosting foods at once with this California Grape and Sardine Avocado Toast recipe. The fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and the avocado offers a boost of healthy unsaturated fat, while the grapes add protective dietary flavonols, which may help promote anti-inflammatory and beneficial antioxidant activity.
A study published in the scientific journal “Neurology” found a higher intake of certain flavonols – including three naturally found in grapes – is associated with a 48% decreased risk of developing Alzheimer dementia.
Get Moving
Adding even more proof that what’s good for your body is good for your mind, getting regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Motivate yourself by choosing a form of movement you genuinely enjoy, whether it’s a daily walk on a nearby nature trail, a dance class, a bike ride or a heart-pumping workout video.
Challenge Your Mind
Don’t forget to give your brain its own workout, too. Doing something mentally stimulating every day is a great way to keep yourself sharp, and there are plenty of ideas to choose from. Try learning a new language, picking up a musical instrument, playing a mind-engaging card or board game, doing a puzzle, reading a book or immersing yourself in a creative writing or art project. The options are nearly endless, and if you want to make your brain extra happy, you can snack on handfuls of grapes as you enjoy your hobby.
Learn more about the connection between grapes and brain health and discover more recipes by visiting GrapesFromCalifornia.com.
California Grape and Sardine Avocado Toast
Prep time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4
- 1 large firm, ripe avocado, halved and pitted
- 4 small slices rustic whole grain bread (1/2-inch thick), toasted or grilled
- 1 individual container sardines in olive oil or water, drained
- 1/2 cup quartered red and black Grapes from California
- Aleppo pepper flakes
- fresh cilantro, snipped
- 1 lemon half
- salt (optional)
- With spoon, scoop avocado out of skin and use fork to coarsely mash.
- Spread onto bread slices and top with whole or torn sardines. Sprinkle grapes over sardines.
- Top with generous sprinkle of Aleppo pepper, cilantro, squeeze of fresh lemon and salt, if desired.
Nutritional information per serving: 290 calories; 11 g protein; 29 g carbohydrates; 16 g fat (50% calories from fat); 2.5 g saturated fat (8% calories from saturated fat); 20 mg cholesterol; 210 mg sodium; 6g fiber.
SOURCE:
California Table Grape Commission
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Health
Truth Initiative and NAACP Expand Partnership to Advance Health Equity and Increase Access to Proven Quit Resources
Health Equity
When we talk about health equity, we’re really talking about who gets the chance to live a longer, healthier life — and who has been systematically denied that chance. Tobacco and nicotine addiction remain a clear example of that imbalance, especially in Black communities and other historically marginalized groups.
That’s why Truth Initiative and the NAACP are expanding their partnership to increase access to proven quit support and to reframe nicotine cessation as something bigger than an individual choice. Their new phase of collaboration launches the Breath of Freedom Movement, powered by Truth Initiative and the NAACP — a community-centered effort that combines civil rights leadership with public health expertise.
A movement rooted in community and accountability
The Breath of Freedom Movement builds on the work of the Breath of Freedom coalition, an alliance led by Truth Initiative across Black-led organizations. The coalition’s mission has been to reclaim the narrative around tobacco use, confront the ways the industry has shaped that narrative, and connect people to support that respects culture, history, and lived experience.
This expansion arrives at a critical moment. According to the press release, approximately 45,000 Black Americans die each year from smoking-related illness. The burden is not accidental — it has been driven in large part by decades of targeted marketing of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.
The release highlights another stark disparity: more than 80% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared with 43% of adult smokers overall. Menthol products are often described as easier to start and harder to quit, which makes access to culturally relevant cessation resources not just helpful, but essential.
Launching at the NAACP National Convention in Chicago
The Breath of Freedom Movement will officially launch at the NAACP National Convention, taking place July 18–22, 2026, in Chicago. The convention theme, “We, The People,” commemorates the nation’s 250th anniversary and marks 100 years since Chicago first hosted the NAACP conference in 1926.
As part of the convention programming, Truth Initiative will debut the Rise Together EXperience: Culture, Community, and Nicotine-Free Lives — an immersive mobile exhibit designed to explore how tobacco use and industry marketing tactics have impacted Black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities. The exhibit is also meant to connect people to quit support in a way that feels accessible and grounded in real community conversations.
What the expanded partnership will do
Truth Initiative and the NAACP say this partnership is designed to move beyond awareness and into action — action that’s rooted in community spaces where trust already exists. The expanded collaboration will focus on:
- Hosting culturally relevant presentations, community forums, workshops, and healing-centered discussions about the health consequences of smoking, vaping, and nicotine addiction, with a focus on disproportionate impacts.
- Advancing the Breath of Freedom mission by reframing nicotine cessation as an act of liberation and resistance to the tobacco industry’s exploitation of Black communities.
- Co-developing and distributing culturally relevant public health content, including toolkits, digital resources, and community-informed cessation materials.
- Promoting awareness of and access to proven quit resources — including Truth Initiative’s EX Program — in partnership with Black-led organizations, faith-based groups, LGBTQ+ advocates, and other culturally aligned stakeholders.
- Strengthening local, regional, and national outreach strategies that elevate community voices and mobilize grassroots support for nicotine prevention and cessation.
In the release, Dr. Chris T. Pernell, Director of the NAACP Center of Health Equity, underscored that health equity requires more than information — it requires accountability and community-rooted action that connects people with tools for healing and freedom from addiction.
Quitting as liberation — not just willpower
One of the most important shifts in this work is the language: quitting isn’t framed as a moral test or a matter of “just trying harder.” Instead, it’s positioned as a supported process — and as a way for communities to push back against systems that have profited from addiction.
As Dr. Dartis noted in the announcement, the tobacco industry has targeted Black communities for generations with products and marketing designed to drive nicotine addiction. The expanded partnership aims to meet people where they are — in trusted spaces, through meaningful conversations, and with resources that recognize culture and lived experience.
Bridging public health data and lived experience
The press release also notes that Dr. Dartis will be featured in an upcoming NAACP docuseries focused on bridging the gap between public health data and the lived experiences of Black men in America. The project will explore the systems, relationships, and environments that shape health outcomes, while highlighting resilience and calling for accountability from the systems meant to serve communities.
How to get free quit support
If you or someone you care about is ready to quit smoking, vaping, or other nicotine products, free support is available through Truth Initiative’s EX Program.
- Text JoinFreedom to 88709
- Visit exprogram.com
Local resources (Arizona)
If you’re in Arizona and want additional, local support, consider these options:
- Arizona Smokers’ Helpline (ASHLine): Call 1-800-55-66-222 or visit https://www.azdhs.gov/ashline/ for free quit coaching and support for Arizona residents.
- Arizona 2-1-1: Dial 2-1-1 (or visit 211arizona.org) to get connected to local health services, community programs, and support resources.
- Primary care clinics and community health centers: If you have a regular doctor or use a community clinic, ask about quit plans and nicotine replacement options. Many clinics can help you build a step-by-step approach and connect you to additional programs.
The takeaway
The Breath of Freedom Movement is a reminder that nicotine addiction doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s connected to policy, marketing, access to care, and the long history of unequal health outcomes in the United States. By combining community leadership with proven quit resources, Truth Initiative and the NAACP are working to ensure that communities most impacted by tobacco-related harm have the support they need to heal, quit, and thrive.
Credit: Truth Initiative. News provided by Truth Initiative via PRNewswire, July 17, 2026.
- Related Links
- https://www.exprogram.com (or exprogram.com)
- https://www.azdhs.gov/ashline/
- https://211arizona.org
💪 Your health journey starts here! Explore the latest health news, fitness tips, wellness trends, and healthy living advice. Share your thoughts in the comments and subscribe to the STM Daily News newsletter to stay informed and inspired every day.
Health
Black Girl Sunscreen Founder Shontay Lundy Inducted into Sigma Gamma Rho’s 2026 TrailblazerΣ Honorary Membership Class
Shontay Lundy, Founder and CEO of Black Girl Sunscreen, has been inducted into Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s 2026 TrailblazerΣ Honorary Membership Class—an honor recognizing women whose leadership and accomplishments create measurable impact across culture and community.
Announced July 29, 2026, the recognition places Lundy among 21 accomplished women celebrated for reshaping their industries through service, sisterhood, and scholarship. For Lundy, it’s a milestone that reflects not only entrepreneurial success, but also the broader advocacy work that has helped expand how the beauty and skincare world talks about inclusive sun care and representation.
What the TrailblazerΣ Honorary Membership Recognizes
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, founded in 1922, is a national collegiate sorority with more than 100,000 members across 500 chapters worldwide. Built on principles of leadership and service, the organization is known for its long-standing commitment to community outreach—captured in its slogan, “Greater Service, Greater Progress.”
Honorary membership is among Sigma Gamma Rho’s most prestigious distinctions. It is awarded to women whose work excels in their field while also positively influencing society at large. The TrailblazerΣ class, in particular, highlights leaders who redefine what’s possible and open doors for others.
A Recognition Linked to a Larger Mission
Lundy founded Black Girl Sunscreen in 2016 to address a persistent gap in the market: sun protection products that work well for people of color, without leaving an unwanted white cast. Since then, the brand has become a recognizable name in inclusive skincare—helping educate consumers on sun safety and shifting public perception around who sunscreen is “for.”
Her induction into Sigma Gamma Rho’s 2026 class connects that work to a larger legacy of women breaking barriers across industries. It also underscores the brand’s impact beyond product innovation—positioning Black Girl Sunscreen as part of a wider movement toward representation, health education, and community-driven leadership.
In a statement, Lundy emphasized that the honor reflects shared values and a commitment to creating opportunities for others:
“To be welcomed into Sigma Gamma Rho is incredibly meaningful because it represents more than recognition—it reflects a shared commitment to service, leadership, and creating opportunities for others. Throughout my journey, I’ve always believed success should open doors, not just for yourself, but for the women coming behind you. I’m honored to join a sisterhood whose legacy is rooted in that same purpose, and I look forward to continuing that work together.”
A Class of Leaders Across Industries
Lundy joins a group of honorees spanning business, sports, media, and public service—reflecting Sigma Gamma Rho’s tradition of recognizing women whose achievements extend beyond personal success to broader community impact.
As the beauty industry continues to evolve toward more inclusive products and messaging, Lundy’s recognition signals how far the conversation has come—and how much it still depends on leaders willing to challenge assumptions, educate consumers, and build brands with purpose.
About Black Girl Sunscreen
Black Girl Sunscreen is a beauty and skincare company founded by Shontay Lundy in 2016 to address the lack of sun protection products formulated for people of color. The brand’s mission centers on educating consumers about safe skin practices and sun protection, while providing premium sun care products formulated for melanated skin and designed to be exceptional for everyone.
For more information, visit blackgirlsunscreen.com.
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