Optimizing Design for Polymer Fiber Optic Oxygen Sensors

The development of a clinically useful fiber-optic oxygen sensor based on oxygen fluorescence quenching is described in this paper. The fiber optic oxygen sensor was formed by coating a thin polymer matrix, which contains an oxygen sensitive fluorophore, on the tapered end of a polymer optical fiber. Three acrylate polymers have been used for the matrix, and the sensitivity and time-response of the oxygen sensors were tested. The results showed that the sensitivity and time response of the sensors can be modified using different polymer matrices. Using these modifications, a very fast time response of the polymer fiber-based oxygen sensor could be readily achieved and the fastest T10-90 response time were <100 ms.