Portable optical blood scattering sensor

Abstract

Modern non-invasive medical sensors can continuously provide vital information such as blood oxygenation, hemoglobin and glucose, based on substance-specific spectral or electrochemical properties. Cells and other geometrical formations are difficult to observe non-invasively due to the absence of a distinctive substantial signature. Optical scattering angle measurements could provide geometrical information but multiple scattering results in diffusion profiles, limiting their direct applicability. Mie scattering correlation to blood cell size has been demonstrated in the lab and various biomedical optical techniques are under intense investigation towards decoupling direct from indirect scattering, requiring specialized equipment. In this paper, a portable sensor is introduced for in-vitro and potentially in-vivo study of light scattering from blood. A microcontroller-based prototype has been designed and fabricated, with a 650 nm laser source, a 128 × 1 photodiode array and a custom dual-core real-time data acquisition algorithm. The prototype has been evaluated using latex sphere solutions calibrated to emulated red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Distinct scattering signatures are demonstrated for the three blood cell sizes. Reproducibility and repeatability tests analyzing data from multiple independent experiments demonstrate the reliability of the demonstration. This device platform provides a flexible and simple means for evaluating optical processing methods towards non-invasive continuous counting of blood cells.