Using infrared spectroscopy for blood analysis has a high potential. In order to bring infrared spectroscopy to clinics, a cost-effective sampling approach, high sample throughput, small sample sizes (< 15μl) and a low detection limit are required. A novel ATR crystal with subwavelength structures on the sampling side was developed and fabricated. The structures and the analyte form an effective medium layer, which supports destructive interference. The absorption signal can be enhanced by at least one order of magnitude. The microstructures also act as a micro sieve that replaces blood centrifugation. The enhancement can be optimized for wavelength regions of interest by changing the dimensions of the microstructures. First steps towards the solution of this high dimensional inverse design problem were made with different neural network architectures.

Date Published: 27 February 2019
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 10872, Optical Fibers and Sensors for Medical Diagnostics and Treatment Applications XIX, 108720F (27 February 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2513295

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10872:
Optical Fibers and Sensors for Medical Diagnostics and Treatment Applications XIX
Israel Gannot, Editor(s)