| abstract |
An apparatus for measuring the concentration of selected solute in a solution. This apparatus is particulary suitable for measuring the concentration of blood components, such as blood late Maillard products. A beam of exposing light is imaged through a wall of a containment vessel onto a region of the sample adjacent to this wall to induce from said selected solute emission of light that includes at least one emission peak that can be used to calculate the concentration of this solute. At least one detector is positioned to maximize the strength of detected signal, if other components of this solution strongly absorb the emitted light. The exposing light is directed such that the detected signal is maximized as a function of the path of this exposing light. A particular embodiment is a low-cost, non-invasive blood Maillard products concentration detector. In this embodiment, the containment vessel is preferably one of the patient's fingers. At least two additional detected signals are monitored and processed at wavenumbers suitable for eliminating temperatures and pressure effects on the calculated blood glucose levels. |