Fibre-optic sensors in biomedical sciences

Abstract

Optical fibres can be used for remote sensing of chemical and physical parameters. The usual approach is to provide the fibre end with a suitable indicator chemistry or a material that responds to the parameter of interest. In contact with the sample, the intensity of reflected, scattered, or re-emitted light is the analytical signal. Aside from several advantages of optical sensors over electrochemical ones (for instance, lack of reference cells and immunity towards electromagnetic interferences), the use of fibres can be advantageous when the samples are inaccessible, for instance, in case of in-vivo experiments.