Hematocrit and oxygen saturation blood analyzer

An apparatus for measuring hematocrit and oxygen saturation levels of a volume of blood, comprising:

• a housing including a key pad and display panel thereon;
• a receptacle sized to store a quantity of blood therein;
• a carriage electrically connected to said housing, said carriage being sized and configured to receive and support said receptacle;
• a light source disposed adjacent said carriage, said light source being operative to illuminate said quantity of blood within said receptacle with first and second wavelengths of light;
• a first sensing means disposed adjacent said carriage for producing a hematocrit signal as a function of said first wavelength of light after scattering thereof by said blood;
• a second sensing means disposed adjacent said carriage for producing an oxygen saturation signal as a function of said first and said second wavelengths of light after scattering thereof by said blood;
• a third sensing means disposed adjacent said carriage for producing a calibration signal for the purpose of calibrating said apparatus;
• and
• a signal processing means disposed within said housing, said signal processing means comprising:
• (a) means for filtering said hematocrit signal and said oxygen saturation signal from system noise and outside interference;
• (b) means for producing an adjusted hematocrit signal and an adjusted oxygen saturation signal, said adjusted hematocrit signal comprising said hematocrit signal as compensated for effects of oxygen saturation, temperature, and blood pH and said adjusted oxygen saturation signal comprising said oxygen saturation signal as compensated for effects of hematocrit, temperature, and blood pH;
• and
• (c) means for converting said adjusted hematocrit signal and said adjusted oxygen saturation signal to hematocrit and oxygen saturation measurements for output on said display panel.