California Today

Jack Lloyd, inventor of pulse oximeter, dies at 90 in Orinda

28 May 2026 06:40

Jack Lloyd, the prolific East Bay engineer and inventor who helped bring the pulse oximeter to routine medical use, died May 1 at his Orinda home at age 90. His wife Lynne died nine days later.

- Lloyd collaborated with Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. - He founded Nellcor, which commercialized the pulse oximeter, reducing anesthesia deaths from 20,000 to dozens per year.

- His later ventures included SafeinHome, a system for adults with developmental disabilities. - Lloyd and his wife will be interred together at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Lafayette, with a celebration of life on July 11.

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OrindaBerkeleyLafayettehealthmedicinetechnology