Objective
The target of the project is the development of an optical fibre sensors capable of a continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) inside the stomach: pCO2 is an important parameter to evaluate the tissue oxygenation and its monitoring in the stomach has been shown to be a convenient method in critically-ill patients and seems to be of particular relevance to patient morbidity and mortality.
The development of the membrane containing the chromophore sensitive to pCO2, the realization of the optical section of the optoelectronic unit, to be connected firstly to a PC, and the development of appropriate optical links are the three main aspects, in which at present the scientific/industrial partners of the consortium (IROE CNR-Italy, Joanneum Research-Austria and Prodotec-Italy) are involved.
The first laboratory measurements performed on sensitive membranes in a flow-through cell, connected with an optical fibre link are very promising; both fluorescence and absorption-based membranes were tested and seem to be capable of fulfilling the requirements established at the beginning of the project in collaboration with the physicians involved in the project (Karl Franzens University- Austria and Florence University-Italy).
First in-vivo tests are scheduled for the beginning of the next year.
Fields of science
Not validated
Not validated
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
50127 FIRENZE
Italy