Compact Fiber Optic Noninvasive Vital Body Chemistry Sensor

Physical Optics Corporation (POC) Research and Development (R&D) Division proposes an innovative, highly compact, low cost fiber optic sensor for monitoring vital body chemistry via sweat metabolite analysis. The POC proposed sensor detects minute changes in the refractive index of sweat induced by the varying lactate concentration in sweat. The proposed device is truly noninvasive, can monitor the person without compromising mobility and without interfering with normal bodily functions, yet is capable of transmitting real time data about the person's vital body chemistry. The highly compact fiber optic sensor can be embedded in weapons and/or other hardware handled by the soldier in the field, and can continuously monitor a soldier's vital body chemistry. The inherent low cost and ruggedness of the proposed miniature fiber optic sensor would allow it to be readily integrated into a wireless network which can provide a central command station with real time data about all sensor equipped soldiers in the field without the sensor requiring any action from the wearer to activate. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: The anticipated commercial (non-military) benefits of the POC proposed device are: (i) law enforcement: police officers in the field will have the advantage of having real time monitoring of their anaerobic metabolism so that help can immediately be dispatched if an officer's physiological health is temporarily compromised; (ii) emergency medical assistance: emergency medical technicians responding to a potentially like threatening situation can immediately assess the seriousness of the person's physiological condition.