title: Laser spectrophotometry in the fetus.
abstract: Laser spectrophotometry with near-infrared light is newly available for clinical application. The equipment consists of a near-infrared datacollection unit (NIRDCU) and apersonal computer. Emission of laser light at wavelengths of 775, 805, 845 and 904 nm is provided by the four laserdiodes of the NIRDCU. By analyzing changes of optical density during laser radiation, information is achieved about the intracellular redoxstate and relative changes of blood volume. During measurement with the system on fetal head we were able to get a first impression of the methods potential. While the application of the laser sensors is still cumbersome, signals providing information of the relative changes of hemoglobine concentrations, relative changes of blood volume and cytochrome aa3 seem achievable. Laser spectrophotometric monitors may become save, low cost and portable instruments for the noninvasive assessment of the biochemical and biophysical status in the fetus.
authors.affiliation: Women's Hospital University of Bonn, West Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eilers
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Helledie
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krebs
mesh_terms: D005323:Fetal Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared