Testing by CO2Meter.com confirms that the SprintIR Carbon Dioxide Sensor by Gas Sensing Solutions Ltd (GSS) in the UK is the fastest carbon dioxide sensor in the world.
Using a 20% CO2 version of the SprintIR sensor, a vacuum pump and graphing software, our engineers recorded 20 carbon dioxide level readings per second during normal human respiration.
As the largest distributor of GSS sensors in the US, we felt it was important to test GSS's performance claims.
“The SprintIR CO2 sensor opens up a whole new level of precision in the fields of capnography, closed circuit scuba diving, mammalian respiration, or any other application where instantaneous carbon dioxide levels are required,” said Ray Hicks, President of CO2Meter.com.
“It is one thing to read a manufacturer’s claims of performance, but it is another thing to test it in the real world,” he added.
Capnography is the monitoring of carbon dioxide in the respiratory gases. It is increasingly being used by emergency medical personnel and hospitals as a tool to judge the condition of patients. For example, by measuring the end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2, the level of carbon dioxide released at the end of expiration) through a sealed mask, EMS or hospital staff are able to receive an "early warning" if a patient's condition changes.
To test the SprintIR sensor, our engineers attached it to a medical face mask using tubing and a 0.5 liter/minute vacuum pump. A technician respired normally into the mask over several seconds as the CO2 levels were recorded.
The test concluded that the SprintIR sensor was capable of accurately measuring ETCO2 20 times per second, resulting in a "sine-wave" graph of CO2 levels not normally seen using slower, more common sensors.