US researchers have developed a new flexible sensor to map blood-oxygen levels over large areas of skin, tissue and organs, aiming at giving doctors a new way to monitor healing wounds.
Yasser Khan, researcher in electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley, said: "When you hear the word oximeter, the name for blood-oxygen sensors, rigid and bulky finger-clip sensors come into your mind. We wanted to break away from that, and show oximeters can be lightweight, thin and flexible."
The new sensor is built of an array of alternating red and near-infrared organic LEDs and organic photodiodes printed on a flexible material that emit infrared light in different levels.
According to the German News Agency, the team used the sensor to track the overall blood-oxygen levels on the forehead of a volunteer who breathed air with progressively lower concentrations of oxygen, similar to going up in altitude. They found that it matched those using a standard fingertip oximeter.
The Phys.org website cited Khan, who said: "After transplantation, surgeons want to measure that all parts of an organ are getting oxygen."
