Design and optimization of a widely tunable semiconductor laser for blood oxygenation and blood flow measurements

Abstract

A method for measuring blood oxygenation and blood flow rate using a single widely tunable semiconductor laser is proposed and investigated. It is shown that a 700-nm-band tunable laser gives the highest sensitivity for blood oxygen measurement. The corresponding tunable laser is designed using the V-coupled cavity structure. The wavelength tuning range can reach 8 nm, which is sufficient for the blood oxygenation measurement in the 700-nm-band by using the Beer- Lambert law. In contrast to conventional blood oxygenation measurement method based on two LEDs, the laser can be used at the same time to measure the blood flow rate based on the Doppler principle.