An integrated laser blood flowmeter

Author

Higurashi, Eiji ; Sawada, Renshi ; Ito, Takahiro

Author_Institution

NTT Microsystem Integration Labs., Kanagawa, Japan

Volume

21

Issue

3

fYear

2003

fDate

3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

591

Lastpage

595

Abstract

We have constructed a very small and lightweight blood flowmeter using micromachining and surface mounting techniques for a wearable health monitoring system. The hybrid integrated structure of the optical system incorporates a InGaAsP-InP distributed feedback laser diode (DFB-LD) with a wavelength of 1310 nm, an edge-illuminated photodiode (PD) and a polyimide waveguide on silicon substrate (2 mm × 3 mm). This integrated flowmeter can be positioned directly on the tissue and permits real-time monitoring of capillary microcirculation. In-vivo measurements of blood perfusion in a finger confirm the feasibility of the blood flowmeter.

Keywords

blood flow measurement; flowmeters; integrated optics; laser applications in medicine; micromachining; microsensors; optical sensors; surface mount technology; 1310 nm; InGaAsP-InP; InGaAsP-InP distributed feedback laser diode; Si; capillary microcirculation; direct tissue positioning; edge-illuminated photodiode; finger blood perfusion; hybrid integrated structure; in-vivo measurements; integrated laser blood flowmeter; lightweight blood flowmeter; micromachining; polyimide waveguide; real-time monitoring; surface mounting techniques; wearable health monitoring system; Biomedical monitoring; Blood; Diode lasers; Distributed feedback devices; Integrated optics; Laser feedback; Micromachining; Optical feedback; Optical surface waves; Optical waveguides;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2003.809551

Filename

1197922