bedfront piCO+ Smokerlyzer, Operating Manual

4

piCO

+

 Operating Manual

English

www.bedfont.com

Introduction

The piCO

+

 Smokerlyzer

®

 is a breath carbon 

monoxide monitor intended for multi-

patient use by healthcare professionals 

in smoking cessation programmes and 

research. It can also be used as an 

indicator of carbon monoxide poisoning in a 

healthcare environment.

Carbon monoxide is a toxic, odourless, 

colourless, tasteless gas. It is formed by 

incomplete combustion of organic material 

at high temperatures, with an insufficient 

oxygen supply.

When inhaled, CO displaces oxygen in the 

bloodstream to form carboxyhaemoglobin 

(COHb). This starves the body tissues of 

the oxygen vital to repair, regeneration 

and general living. CO can remain in the 

bloodstream for up to 24 hours, depending 

on factors such as physical activity, gender, 

and inhalation intensity. The half life is about 

5 hours.

CO (ppm) and carboxyhaemoglobin 
(%COHb) correlation:

Breath carbon monoxide is measured 

in parts per million (ppm) and blood 

carboxyhaemoglobin is measured in 

percentages (%COHb). The two are 

compatible and convertible: the CO reading 

relates to gas in the lungs and on the 

breath (i.e. the amount of poisonous CO 

that has been inhaled), and the COHb 

reading relates to the percentage of vital 

oxygen that has been replaced in the 

bloodstream. The piCO

+

 Smokerlyzer

®

displays both measurements. Clinical 

research has demonstrated that a useful 

relationship between carbon monoxide and 

carboxyhaemoglobin is obtained after a 

short period of breath-holding.

The cut-off point between smoker and 

non-smoker has been found to be 6ppm 

CO. The piCO

+

 Smokerlyzer

®

 defines a 

non-smoker as 0-6ppm, a low-dependence 

smoker as 7-15ppm and strongly addicted 

smokers as over 15ppm.

The piCO

+

 Smokerlyzer

®

 has been designed 

so that it can be used with young smokers. 

As their smoking habits and views are 

generally different from adult smokers, 

the cut-off points have changed: 0-4ppm 

represents a non-smoker, 5-6ppm a light 

or casual smoker, and over 7ppm a more 

frequent young smoker.

Other cut-off points can be adopted as 

well as smoking classification at higher 

CO levels. The piCO

+

 has a third profile 

which can be set by the user with COdata

+

software to achieve complete flexibility in 

most circumstances 

Intended use