title: Noninvasive monitoring of gas in the lungs and intestines of newborn infants using diode lasers: feasibility study.
abstract: Preterm newborn infants have a high morbidity rate. The most frequently affected organs where free gas is involved are the lungs and intestines. In respiratory distress syndrome, both hyperexpanded and atelectatic (collapsed) areas occur, and in necrotizing enterocolitis, intramural gas may appear in the intestine. Today, these conditions are diagnosed with x-ray radiography. A bed-side, rapid, nonintrusive, and gas-specific technique for in vivo gas sensing would improve diagnosis. We report the use of noninvasive laser spectroscopy, for the first time, to assess gas content in the lungs and intestines of three full-term infants. Water vapor and oxygen were studied with two low-power diode lasers, illuminating the skin and detecting light a few centimeters away. Water vapor was easily detected in the intestines and was also observed in the lungs. The relatively thick chest walls of the infants prevented detection of the weaker oxygen signal in this study. However, results from a previous phantom study, together with scaling of the results presented here to the typical chest-wall thickness of preterm infants, suggest that oxygen also should be detectable in their lungs.
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lundin
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, SE-221 85 Lund, SwedencLund University, Skåne University Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Emilie Krite
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Svanberg
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, SwedendCNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies-LUXOR, Via Trasea 7, IT-351 31 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cocola
authors.affiliation: Gasporox AB, Magistratsvägen 10, SE-226 43 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Märta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lewander Xu
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Somesfalean
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andersson-Engels
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jahr
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Pediatrics, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Vineta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fellman
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Oncology, SE-221 85 Lund, SwedenhSouth China Normal University, Center for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, Guangzhou CN-510006, China.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Svanberg
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, SwedenhSouth China Normal University, Center for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, Guangzhou CN-510006, China.
authors.forename: Sune
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Svanberg
mesh_terms: D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007422:Intestines / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D054023:Lasers, Semiconductor; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D005740:Gases