title: Telemetric real-time sensor for the detection of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
abstract: Acute upper gastrointestinal bleedings from ulcers or esophago-gastric varices are life threatening medical conditions which require immediate endoscopic therapy. Despite successful endoscopic hemostasis, there is a significant risk of rebleeding often requiring close surveillance of these patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Any time delay to recognize bleeding may lead to a high blood loss and increases the risk of death. A novel telemetric real-time bleeding sensor can help indicate blood in the stomach: the sensor is swallowed to detect active bleeding or is anchored endoscopically on the gastrointestinal wall close to the potential bleeding source. By telemetric communication with an extra-corporeal receiver, information about the bleeding status is displayed. In this study the novel sensor, which measures characteristic optical properties of blood, has been evaluated in an ex-vivo setting to assess its clinical applicability and usability. Human venous blood of different concentrations, various fluids, and liquid food were tested. The LED-based sensor was able to reliably distinguish between concentrated blood and other liquids, especially red-colored fluids. In addition, the spectrometric quality of the small sensor (size: 6.5mm in diameter, 25.5mm in length) was comparable to a much larger and technically more complex laboratory spectrophotometer. The experimental data confirm the capability of a miniaturized sensor to identify concentrated blood, which could help in the very near future the detection of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and to survey high-risk patients for rebleeding.
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: sebastian.schostek@ovesco.com.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schostek
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fode
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melbert
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany; Steinbeis University Berlin, IHCI Institute, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Schurr
authors.affiliation: Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tuebingen, Germany; Medical Faculty, University of Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gottwald
authors.affiliation: St. Anna Klinik and Proctological Institute Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruediger L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Prosst
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016558:Hemostasis, Endoscopic; D006801:Humans; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology; D013686:Telemetry
keywords: Gastrointestinal bleeding; LED; Photometry; Sensor; Telemetry