Determining the absorption coefficient of hemoglobin derivatives with integrated optic waveguide sensor

Abstract

A simple method of determining the absorption coefficient of absorbing aqueous biochemicals is proposed as an application of the complex propagation constant of guided wave in a thin-film optical waveguide. It was designed to consecutively change the interaction length between the evanescent field and the sample, and evaluated by prism couplers. The response linearly depends on the interaction length and the total hemoglobin concentration (THb) of hemoglobin derivatives. The determined absorption coefficients fairly well coincide with the values obtained by the conventional transmission measurement.