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Doctors newspaper online, 14.10.2019
Fiber Optic Sensors
Using a novel device, esophageal diseases can be gently diagnosed.
JENA. Symptoms such as heartburn or regurgitation often include a reflux disease. To find out where the causes lie, patients have to undergo a lengthy and unpleasant examination.
A research team from the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (Leibniz-IPHT) in Jena is now researching a diagnostic device that makes this procedure faster, more informative and less stressful for patients.
To find out how the complex interaction of the esophageal musculature is disturbed, a measuring catheter determines the pressure distribution over the entire length of the esophagus, informs the Leibniz IPHT. Fiber optic sensors enable high-resolution catheters that are not thicker than 4 mm. This facilitates the application and makes the measurement more comfortable for patients.
In order to be able to measure the pressure simultaneously in many different areas of the esophagus and thus be able to follow the peristaltic movements, the researchers arrange ten to fifteen fiber-optic "strain gauges" – so-called fiber Bragg grating sensors – in an optical fiber.
The positions at which the measurements are taken can be determined on the basis of different wavelengths of the individual sensors. Thanks to further fiber-optic sensors in the area of the stomach and above, pH and gall levels can be determined and linked simultaneously with the pressure. This makes it possible to gain new insights into the causes of diseases.
Measurements at home too
Because the catheter is connected to a handy device, patients should be able to use it at home in the future for measurements over a longer period of 24 hours and more. This allows physicians to detect disorders that occur only occasionally and not with each swallow. "We have already reached a relatively high level of technology maturity", Manfred Rothhardt, coordinator of the project, is quoted in the communication.
In two years, the Jena researchers want to present the diagnostic device, which will then be tested for more than a year to patients. For the project entitled Optimo (OPTIcal fiber device for simultaneous manometry, pH-metry and bilimetry in esophagus), the research team works together with the companies Jenaer Technische Instrumente (JETI) and Oscomed from Sonneberg, as well as with partners of the Italian CNR-Institut für angewandte Physics in Sesto Fiorentino, the University of Florence and also the resident company Cecchi Srl.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the research project within the framework of the EU's "PhotonicSensing" program with approximately 650,000 euros over the next three years. (eb)
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