Highly sensitive optical sensor system for blood leakage detection

A highly sensitive method for the detection of blood leakage has been developed, and a practical sensor system for blood concentration measurement has been constructed. The present method is based on the attenuation of laser light by blood cells. The effects of the fluctuations of the incident laser light power are eliminated by normalizing the attenuated light intensity by the incident light intensity. A part of the incident laser light is reflected by a beam splitter mounted at the entrance of the test cell, of which the power is measured to provide base data for normalization. The optical path is extended to enhance sensitivity by using a pair of side mirrors. This multi-reflection method is very effective to increase sensitivity; the maximum sensitivity obtained for blood concentration is about 4 X 10^-6 by volume, which is significantly higher than that of the conventional sensors.