Verification experiments of health examination system based on mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18842
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 21:Electrical and electronic engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuura Yuji 東北大学, 医工学研究科, 教授 (10241530)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 木野 彩子 東北大学, 医工学研究科, 学術研究員 (30536082) ; 片桐 崇史 東北大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (90415125)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: ヘルスケア / 赤外分光 / 量子カスケードレーザ / 中空光ファイバ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to develop a healthcare device that can perform various diagnostics such as cholesterol level and blood glucose level without blood sampling by using the mid-infrared quantum cascade laser (QCL), the feasibility study of the measurement system was performed. First, we attempted blood lipid monitoring using an optical method based on ATR spectroscopy. As a result of blood lipid monitoring, it was found that the optical absorption value of triglyceride absorption peak at 1106 cm-1 was highly correlated with blood triglyceride concentration. In addition, PLS regression analysis was performed on the absorption spectrum measured on the lips using a system using a wavelength-swept pulsed QCL, and a good quantitative model was obtained, confirming the feasibility of the system for measuring blood glucose levels.

Free Research Field

医用光工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

光を用いた各種のヘルスケア機器の開発が行われているが，本研究では，従来の近赤外光を用いたものより測定精度が向上することが期待される，中赤外光を用いた光学的診断システムの開発を目的としている．本研究では，診断項目値に高い相関性を示す波長を抽出し，それらの波長を発生する単一波長量子カスケードレーザ（QCL）を用いたシステムを開発し，その後，小型の波長掃引QCLを用いたシステムを構築し，その有用性を実証した．これらの手法を用いて，小型かつ安価なシステムが実現されれば大きなブレークスルーとなり，各種の光学的診断装置の開発へとつながることが期待される．