LIF analysis of cervical mucus and amniotic fluid for maturity monitoring in pregnancy

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of autoflorescence spectroscopy in the diagnosis of cervix maturity through cervical mucus florescence and foetal lung maturity through amniotic fluid fluorescence. LED and broadband Mercury light were used to induce fluorescence in cervical mucus and amniotic fluid respectively. Mature specimens compared to immature ones showed a significant decrease in cervical mucus fluorescence values measured at 420 nm (p = 0.0004) and in measured amniotic fluid fluorescence values at 410 nm (p = 0.0686). Probability-based classification algorithm was developed to identify samples 'maturity' through analysis of the fluorescence spectra. Employing fluorescence intensity at 420 nm for cervix maturity diagnosis rendered optimal sensitivity of 92.9%, specificity of 83.3% and area under the ROC curve of 91.1%.