An Accurate, Flexible and Small Optical Fiber Sensor: A Novel Technological Breakthrough for Real-Time Analysis of Dynamic Blood Flow Data In Vivo

Because of the limitations of existing methods and techniques for directly obtaining real-time blood data, no accurate microflow in vivo real-time analysis method exists. To establish a novel technical platform for real-time in vivo detection and to analyze average blood pressure and other blood flow parameters, a small, accurate, flexible, and nontoxic Fabry-Perot fiber sensor was designed. The carotid sheath was implanted through intubation of the rabbit carotid artery (n = 8), and the blood pressure and other detection data were determined directly through the veins. The fiber detection results were compared with test results obtained using color Doppler ultrasound and a physiological pressure sensor recorder. Pairwise comparisons among the blood pressure results obtained using the three methods indicated that real-time blood pressure information obtained through the fiber sensor technique exhibited better correlation than the data obtained with the other techniques. The highest correlation (correlation coefficient of 0.86) was obtained between the fiber sensor and pressure sensor. The blood pressure values were positively related to the total cholesterol level, low-density lipoprotein level, number of red blood cells, and hemoglobin level, with correlation coefficients of 0.033, 0.129, 0.358, and 0.373, respectively. The blood pressure values had no obvious relationship with the number of white blood cells and high-density lipoprotein and had a negative relationship with triglyceride levels, with a correlation coefficient of –0.031. The average ambulatory blood pressure measured by the fiber sensor exhibited a negative correlation with the quantity of blood platelets (correlation coefficient of −0.839, P<0.05). The novel fiber sensor can thus obtain in vivo blood pressure data accurately, stably, and in real time; the sensor can also determine the content and status of the blood flow to some extent. Therefore, the fiber sensor can obtain partially real-time vascular rheology information and may thus enable the early diagnosis of blood rheology disorders and diseases.