Design and simulation of a highly sensitive photonic crystal fiber sensor for malaria detection

This research focuses on developing an innovative optical sensor utilizing photonic crystal fiber with a unique cladding structure. The photonic crystal fiber’s cladding consists of four layers of circular air holes, with two of them filled with hemoglobin. This arrangement renders the photonic crystal fiber sensitive to changes in hemoglobin concentration, primarily investigating its impact on chromatic dispersion – the wavelength-dependent refractive index variation. The study analyzes two specific wavelengths, 1.2 µm and 1.4 µm, finding high sensitivity at 1.2 µm, calculated to be 0.232 ps/(nm·km)/(g/L). The potential application lies in malaria diagnosis through non-invasive blood sample analysis. We selected the refractive index of an infected red blood cell at the ring stage, setting it at n = 1.395. Our proposed sensor demonstrates outstanding performance in diagnosing malaria at an HGB concentration of 38 g/L at 1.2 µm and at an HGB concentration of 40 g/L at 1.4 µm. By monitoring hemoglobin concentration changes, this photonic crystal fiber-based sensor offers a promising method for early and accurate malaria detection, thus potentially improving global healthcare.