Optical fibre chemical sensors at IROE for medical applications

In this paper an overview on the activity developed at IROE in the field of optical fiber sensor for medical applications is given. Bile sensor for monitoring the entero-gastric reflux, pH sensors for the detection of blood and gastric acidity and oxygen sensor, also suitable for the measurement of biological compounds via enzyme reactions, are described. Before the realization of each sensor, a thorough spectrophotometric investigation was undertaken: it has been considered fundamental in the design and planning of the optical fiber chemical sensor, since it allows us to obtain a better understanding of the behavior of the chromophores, immobilized or not, which act as optical transducer in the optrode and therefore, to optimize the optrode from an optical point of view. Moreover, if the final goal of the sensor was the utilization for in vivo measurements, particular attention was paid to the biocompatibility of the optrode.