![](bg1.png)
OPTICAL FIBER CHARACTERIZED WITH A LOW
REFRACTIVE INDEX CAN DETECT BLOOD
Blood Increased Light Loss through an Air–cladding Optical Fiber
Akihiro Takeuchi, Tomohiro Miwa
Department of Medical Informatics, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Japan
Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Japan
Minoru Sawada, Haruo Imaizumi, Hiroyuki Sugibuchi, Minoru Hirose, Noriaki Ikeda
Junkosha Co., Ltd., Ishibashi, Sakaigawa, Fuefuki, Yamanashi, Japan
Department of Clinical Engineering, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Japan
Department of Medical Informatics, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Japan
Keywords: Air-cladding plastic optical fiber, Light loss, Venous needle dislodgement.
Abstract: Large amounts of undetected blood loss during hemodialysis are caused by venous needle dislodgement. A
special air-cladding plastic optical fiber with a low refractive index, fluoropolymer, PFA fiber, JUNFLON
®
,
was developed to monitor oil and lipid leakage in industrial fields, and to monitor the dust in the air in clean
rooms. To apply the air-cladding plastic optical fiber as a bleed sensor, we studied the optical effects of
soaking the fiber with various liquids and porcine blood on light-loss experimental settings. Light intensity
through the fiber was studied with a light emitting diode and a photodiode under various conditions of
soaked fiber with reverse osmosis water, physiological saline, glucose, and porcine blood. The more the
soaked length increased with all mediums, the more the light intensity decreased. Although the slopes of the
decreased curves varied according to the mediums, the light scattering phenomena caused by the mediums
can be applied to a bleed sensor for clinical use.
1 INTRODUCTION
Although hemodialysis has evolved into a safe and
less stressful procedure for both patients and
caregivers (Sarkar, Kaitwatcharachai and Levin,
2005; Hawley, Jefferies, Nearhos and Van Eps,
2008), intradialytic complications still cause
considerable patient morbidity and rarely, mortality
(Sarkar et al., 2005). Venous needle dislodgment
(VND) is one of the most serious accidents that can
occur during hemodialysis (Hawley et al., 2008; Van
Waeleghem, Chamney, Lindley and Pancírová,
2008). The European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses
Association/ European Renal Care Association has
produced 12 practice recommendations to help
reduce the risk of VND and detect blood leakage as
soon as possible (Van Waeleghem et al., 2008). A
safety device from Redsense Medical, Halmstad,
Sweden for use during hemodialysis that uses fiber
optic technology to detect blood has been approved
as a Class I medical device with the intended
purpose of detecting VND (Van Waeleghem et al.,
2008; Ahlmén, Gydell, Hadimeri, Hernandez,
Rogland and Strömbom, 2008).
On the other hand, optical fibers are widely and
directly used in fiber optic communications, medical
endoscopes, and sensors (Goodyer, Fothergill, Jones
and Hanning, 1996; Zubia and Arrue, 2001; Sugita,
2001; Lee, 2003). An optical fiber generally consists
of a core and a surrounding layer called “cladding”
with a low refractive index. Based on the difference
in refractive indices, light is reflected at the
core-cladding interface. An air-cladding plastic
optical fiber characterized with a low refractive
index of 1.328 nD was developed by the Junkosha
Co., Ltd. (Yamanashi, Japan), that can monitor
contaminates or impurities in a clean room or
environs (Suzuki, 2004). When the air-cladding
optical fiber is contaminated with a liquid, the light
307
Takeuchi A., Miwa T., Sawada M., Imaizumi H., Sugibuchi H., Hirose M. and Ikeda N..
OPTICAL FIBER CHARACTERIZED WITH A LOW REFRACTIVE INDEX CAN DETECT BLOOD - Blood Increased Light Loss through an Air–cladding
Optical Fiber.
DOI: 10.5220/0003122003070310
In Proceedings of the International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices (BIODEVICES-2011), pages 307-310
ISBN: 978-989-8425-37-9
Copyright
c
2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)