title: An optical fiber photoplethysmographic system for central nervous system tissue.
abstract: A new system for measuring the oxygen saturation of blood within tissue has been developed, for a number of potential patient monitoring applications. This proof of concept project aims to address the unmet need of real-time measurement of oxygen saturation in the central nervous system (CNS) for patients recovering from neurosurgery or trauma, by developing a fiber optic signal acquisition system for internal placement through small apertures. The development and testing of a two-wavelength optical fiber reflectance photoplethysmography (PPG) system is described. It was found that good quality red and near-infrared PPG signals could be consistently obtained from the human fingertip (n=6) and rat spinal cord (n=6) using the fiber optic probe. These findings justify further development and clinical evaluation of this fiber optic system.
authors.affiliation: Anaesthetic Laboratory, Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, London, UK. j.p.phillips@qmul.ac.uk
authors.forename: Justin P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Panayiotis A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Kyriacou
authors.forename: Kuriakose J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: John V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Priestley
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Langford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055100:Optical Fibers; D010092:Oximetry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017156:Photoplethysmography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology*