Xinxin Guo

Noninvasive glucose detection in human skin using wavelength modulated differential laser photothermal radiometry

Noninvasive glucose monitoring will greatly improve diabetes management. We applied Wavelength-Modulated Differential Laser Photothermal Radiometry (WM-DPTR) to noninvasive glucose measurements in human skin in vitro in the mid-infrared range. Glucose measurements in human blood serum diffused into a human skin sample (1 mm thickness from abdomen) in the physiological range (21-400 mg/dl) demonstrated high sensitivity and accuracy to meet wide clinical detection requirements. It was found that the glucose sensitivity could be tuned by adjusting the intensity ratio and phase difference of the two laser beams in the WM-DPTR system. The measurement results demonstrated the feasibility of the development of WM-DPTR into a clinically viable noninvasive glucose biosensor.

Reconstruction of depth profiles of thermal conductivity of case hardened steels using a three-dimensional photothermal technique

A method of retrieving thermophysical depth profiles of continuously inhomogeneous materials is presented both theoretically and experimentally using laser infrared photothermal radiometry. This method represents the three-dimensional (3D) extension of earlier one-dimensional thermal-wave inverse-problem techniques for reconstructing inhomogeneous thermal-conductivity or diffusivity depth profiles. A 3D theoretical model suitable for characterizing solids with arbitrary continuously varying thermophysical property depth profiles and finite (collimated or focused) laser beam spotsize is developed. A numerical fitting algorithm to retrieve the thermophysical profile was demonstrated with three case hardened steel samples. The reconstructed thermal conductivity depth profiles were found to be well anticorrelated with microhardness profiles obtained with the conventional indenter method.

Wavelength-Modulated Differential Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (WM-DPAS) for noninvasive early cancer detection and tissue hypoxia monitoring.

This study introduces a novel noninvasive differential photoacoustic method, Wavelength Modulated Differential Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (WM-DPAS), for noninvasive early cancer detection and continuous hypoxia monitoring through ultrasensitive measurements of hemoglobin oxygenation levels (StO2 ). Unlike conventional photoacoustic spectroscopy, WM-DPAS measures simultaneously two signals induced from square-wave modulated laser beams at two different wavelengths where the absorption difference between maximum deoxy- and oxy-hemoglobin is 680 nm, and minimum (zero) 808 nm (the isosbestic point). The two-wavelength measurement efficiently suppresses background, greatly enhances the signal to noise ratio and thus enables WM-DPAS to detect very small changes in total hemoglobin concentration (CHb ) and oxygenation levels, thereby identifying pre-malignant tumors before they are anatomically apparent. The non-invasive nature also makes WM-DPAS the best candidate for ICU bedside hypoxia monitoring in stroke patients. Sensitivity tunability is another special feature of the technology: WM-DPAS can be tuned for different applications such as quick cancer screening and accurate StO2 quantification by selecting a pair of parameters, signal amplitude ratio and phase shift. The WM-DPAS theory has been validated with sheep blood phantom measurements. Sensitivity comparison between conventional single-ended signal and differential signal.

Noninvasive in-vehicle alcohol detection with wavelength-modulated differential photothermal radiometry

This study describes the potential of wavelength-modulated differential photothermal radiometry (WM-DPTR) for non-invasive in-vehicle alcohol detection which can be of great importance in reducing alcohol-impaired driving. Ethanol content in the range of concern, 0-100 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in water phantoms and blood serum diffused in human skin in vitro were measured with high sensitivity. The results show that the WM-DPTR system can be optimized for alcohol detection with the combination of two sensitivity-tuning parameters, amplitude ratio R and phase shift ΔP. WM-DPTR has demonstrated the potential to be developed into a portable alcohol ignition interlock biosensor that could be fitted as a universal accessory in vehicles.

Applications of ultrasensitive wavelength-modulated differential photothermal radiometry to noninvasive glucose detection in blood serum.

Wavelength-Modulated Differential Laser Photothermal Radiometry (WM-DPTR) has been designed for noninvasive glucose measurements in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. Glucose measurements in human blood serum in the physiological range (20-320 mg/dl) with predicted error <10.3 mg/dl demonstrated high sensitivity and accuracy to meet wide clinical detection requirements, ranging from hypoglycemia to hyperglycemia. The glucose sensitivity and specificity of WM-DPTR stem from the subtraction of the simultaneously measured signals from two excitation laser beams at wavelengths near the peak and the baseline of the strongest interference-free glucose absorption band in the MIR range. It was found that the serum glucose sensitivity and measurement precision strongly depend on the tunability and stability of the intensity ratio and the phase shift of the two laser beams. This level of accuracy was favorably compared to other MIR techniques. WM-DPTR has shown excellent potential to be developed into a clinically viable noninvasive glucose biosensor.

Laser photothermal radiometric instrumentation for fast in-line industrial steel hardness inspection and case depth measurements

A contact-free, nondestructive laser photothermal radiometric instrumentation technique was developed to meet industrial demand for on-line steel hardness inspection and quality control. A series of industrial steel samples, flat or curvilinear, with different effective hardness case depths ranging between 0.21 and 1.78 mm were measured. The results demonstrated that three measurement parameters (metrics) extracted from fast swept-sine photothermal excitation and measurements, namely, the phase minimum frequency f(min), the peak or trough frequency width W, and the area S, are complementary for evaluating widely different ranges of hardness case depth: f(min) is most suitable for large case depths, and W and S for small case depths. It was also found that laser beam angular inclination with respect to the surface plane of the sample strongly affects hardness measurement resolution and that the phase frequency maximum is more reliable than the amplitude maximum for laser beam focusing on the sample surface.

Photothermal radiometry parametric identifiability theory for reliable and unique nondestructive coating thickness and thermophysical measurements

In this paper, we present a detailed reliability analysis of estimated parameters to a three-layer theoretical model of photothermal radiometry frequency domain signals by applying parameter identifiability conditions from two steel samples coated with ∼10 μm and 20 μm thick ceramic coating, to measure the thermophysical parameters of the coating, such as thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, and coating thickness. The three parameters are unique only when their sensitivity coefficients are linearly independent over the range of measurements. The study demonstrates the complexity of the identifiable experimental conditions through identifiability maps (calculated nonidentifiable locations) and sensitivity coefficient plots, even when the three separated parameters are grouped into two parameters. The validation of the reliability analysis theory by comparing the independently measured, with the fitted thicknesses of two coatings under random and optimized conditions, underscore the great importance o...

An absolute calibration method of an ethyl alcohol biosensor based on wavelength-modulated differential photothermal radiometry

In this work, laser-based wavelength-modulated differential photothermal radiometry (WM-DPTR) is applied to develop a non-invasive in-vehicle alcohol biosensor. WM-DPTR features unprecedented ethanol-specificity and sensitivity by suppressing baseline variations through a differential measurement near the peak and baseline of the mid-infrared ethanol absorption spectrum. Biosensor signal calibration curves are obtained from WM-DPTR theory and from measurements in human blood serum and ethanol solutions diffused from skin. The results demonstrate that the WM-DPTR-based calibrated alcohol biosensor can achieve high precision and accuracy for the ethanol concentration range of 0-100 mg/dl. The high-performance alcohol biosensor can be incorporated into ignition interlocks that could be fitted as a universal accessory in vehicles in an effort to reduce incidents of drinking and driving.

Photo‐Carrier‐Radiometry (PCR) Metrology for Semiconductor Manufacturing Inspection

Non‐contact, non‐intrusive photo‐carrier radiometry (PCR) was used for monitoring the ion implantation of (p‐type) industrial‐grade silicon wafers. The silicon wafers were implanted with different species (Boron, Phosphorus) in the dose range of 1×1011‐to‐1×1016 ions/cm2 at different implantation energies (10 keV‐to‐180 keV). The results indicated excellent sensitivity to the implantation doses and energies. The results showed that the PCR signal is characteristic of the implant parameters with monotonic PCR signal trends for different implanted species. The ability to inspect uniformity through mapping of the implant dose across the wafer is also demonstrated. Material parameters such as carrier recombination lifetimes can be determined by using a multi‐parameter fitting algorithm for a given implant. This laser‐based photothermal technique monitors harmonically photoexcited and recombining carriers and shows great potential advantages over existing methodologies for characterization of multiple semicond...

Hardness depth profiling of case hardened steels using a three-dimensional photothermal technique

A method of retrieving thermophysical depth profiles of continuously inhomogeneous materials is presented both theoretically and experimentally using the three-dimensional (3-D) photothermal radiometry. A 3-D theoretical model suitable for characterizing solids with arbitrary continuously varying thermophysical property depth profiles and finite (collimated or focused) laser beam spotsize is developed. A numerical fitting algorithm to retrieve the thermophysical profile was demonstrated with three case hardened steel samples. The reconstructed thermal conductivity depth profiles were found to be well anti-correlated with microhardness profiles obtained with the conventional indenter method.