The Consumer Council on Wednesday called on the government to introduce regulations for oximeters, as the devices for detecting blood oxygen levels gain in popularity because of the pandemic.

The watchdog said currently, manufacturers or importers of oximeters can choose whether to register their products with the authorities.

Its chief executive, Gilly Wong, said the arrangement is not ideal because the quality of oximeters could not be regulated.

"As consumers are getting more and more health conscious, they want much better medical devices at home to safeguard themselves. I think it's really about time to review the current voluntary registration scheme [and] to make it mandatory, so that consumers can be much better protected," she said.

"And [for products] for medical use, there should be a more proper regulatory regime to govern the quality, distribution and selling of all these different kinds of products."

Lui Wing-cheong, vice-chairman of the council's research and testing committee, also urged people not to solely rely on oximeter readings to determine their condition.

"The reading could be affected by many factors and discrepancy may even occur. The condition of the fingers, cold and clammy hands, overly long fingernails or shaky hands, environmental conditions, and measuring techniques could all affect the accuracy of the oximeter," he said.

"Therefore, patients can not rely solely on the reading of oximeters as health indicators, nor should the readings be used to substitute for the importance of examining clinical symptoms or observations."

He said consumers should read the user manuals carefully before using the oximetres, adding that patients should seek medical help if they experience serious symptoms, even if their oximeter readings are normal.