The invention relates to a blood oximeter for measuring the oxygenation and at least one other parameter of flowing blood in living tissue. According to the invention, the blood oximeter comprises two lightsources (2, 3) emitting light of different wavelengths into tissue, and preferably a light detector (4) for detecting a transmitted and/or reflected part of the light emitted into the tissue, wherein at least one of the light sources is a laser with a laser cavity emitting a laser beam, the laser being adapted to allow a part of the laser beam which is scattered by the tissue to re-enter into the laser cavity, and wherein a laser beam sensor (7, 8) for measuring the light emitted from the laser is provided, the laser beam sensor (7, 8), thus, obtaining a signal which varies in accordance with the self-mixing interferometric effect between the original laser beam and the scattered laser beam. Accordingly, such a blood oximeter is provided that performs well at low perfusion and which further allows for reliable measurements