Plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membranes that incorporate a highly lipophilic sodium-selective neutral ionophore (ETH 4120) and novel H(+)-selective chromo-ionophores, lipophilic isologs of Nile Blue, are used in the competitive binding of Na+ and H+ for a reversible, optical determination of sodium activities in buffered solutions at different selected pH values. These optode membranes are u...

Fluorescence tomography excites a fluorophore inside a sample by light sources on the surface. From boundary measurements of the fluorescent light, the distribution of the fluorophore is reconstructed. The optode placement determines the quality of the reconstructions in terms of, e.g., resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio. We address the adaptation of the measurement setup. The redundancy of...

Analytical protocols for normalization of artifacts and signal quality control are crucial in the design of intensity-based imaging optodes. In this study, we demonstrate how the time correlated pixel-by-pixel calibration (TCPC) technique could be used to predict analytical sensitivity, limit of detection (LOD) and determination of signal variation (relative standard deviation, R.S.D.) at a pix...

We develope a method to optimize the resolution of diffuse optical tomographic instruments. Singular-value analysis of the tomographic weight matrix associated with specific data types, geometries, and optode arrangements is shown to provide a measure of image resolution. We achieve optimization of device configuration by monitoring the resolution measure described. We introduce this idea and d...

Introduction: Increased tissue stiffness, presence of structural malformations, and altered perfusion of the vascular bed are known phenotypic markers for the presence of breast cancer [1,2]. Awareness of these phenomena has motivated our development of instrumentation platforms that can explore the naturally occurring dynamics of the hemoglobin signal. The dimensionality of the information spa...

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive cortical imaging technique that provides many of the advantages of cortical fMRI with additional benefits of low cost, portability, and increased temporal resolution-features that make it potentially ideal for clinical diagnostic applications. However, the usefulness of NIRS is contingent on the ability to reliably localize the measured signal...

In recent years, profiling floats, which form the basis of the successful international Argo observatory, are also being considered as platforms for marine biogeochemical research. This study showcases the utility of floats as a novel tool for combined gas measurements of CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) and O2. These float prototypes were equipped with a small-sized and submersible pCO2 sensor and ...

This paper presents the preparation and characterization of a single-excitation, dual-emission ratiometric optical Li(+)-sensing device using a newly designed and synthesized highly Li(+)-selective fluoroionophore (KBL-01) carrying 14-crown-4 ether with tetramethyl and benzene blocking subunits as Li(+)-binding site and boron-dipyrromethene as fluorophore. The indicator dye was covalently immob...