Fiber optic as the basis of a real-time blood test system

Fiber optics has literally changed the world - thanks to the creation and use of fiber optics, data transfer has become much faster than ever before. In addition to network equipment, optical fiber is used in some other areas of science and technology, and now doctors can use it to conduct a quick blood test in real time.

The new system allows you to almost instantly determine the presence of certain substances in the blood of a person that are “markers” of a particular disease. The technology is still being developed, but the first prototypes have already shown the wide capabilities of the new system.



The system consists of a “probe”, which is immersed directly in the blood, and a blood analysis system, which has a size equal to the size of the tablet. Actually, this is the whole "laboratory", which replaces all the equipment of a modern blood analysis laboratory, with its centrifuges, electronic analyzers and everything else.

In the system, the most important element is the probe itself, which is an optical fiber with a system of reflectors and an external coating that binds some blood substances, the same “markers”, if any. The light travels through the fiber, reflected by a system of reflectors on the inner coating. Then the light is reflected from the walls, and enters the spectrometer. If the outer coating “bound” the molecules of the corresponding substances, then the spectrum of the reflected light beam changes, and the spectrometer “detects” it.



As a result, the doctor immediately sees what substances are in the blood, which allows you to detect the corresponding deviations / diseases.

Of course, there are some difficulties here - after all, the coating that binds the “markers” must be universal and be able to respond to most important markers in the blood of a person.

Prototypes of the system, as mentioned above, showed good results. So, the system is now able to respond to the presence of a substance whose concentration in the blood is only 2 nanograms per liter. The cost of such a system, when it begins to be produced on an industrial scale, will be significantly lower than the cost of existing blood test systems.

Well, besides a blood test, such a system can be used to determine water quality, monitor the state of water resources in a certain region, etc.

Via extremetech