Abstract: The apparatus comprises three laser diodes emitting at 660, 750 and 940 nm respectively, excited cyclically at the rate of a timer. The light emitted is channelled by three optical fibers to traverse a fully-vascularized tissue region of a subject along three virtually merged optical paths, and to terminate at an opto-electronic sensor, which generates overlapping signals representative of the molecular absorption. The pulsation of the arterial blood in the region induces variable components which are exclusively a function of the molecular absorptions due to oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin. The signals are switched by gates on three channels where the variable components are picked up and digitized, and then processed in a microprocessor to yield the oxygen saturation SaO.sub.2 and the carbon monoxide fixation of the hemoglobin.