Gas-Cell Referenced Swept-Source Phase-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography:  Towards continuous glucose monitoring in Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Real-time blood glucose monitoring can significantly decrease morbidity and mortality and save the lives of up to 40% of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). In this lecture I will discuss why gas-cell referenced Phase Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography (PhS-OCT) is a promising platform for building intravascular blood glucose sensor with continuous readout. I will discuss a) selection of the method for measuring glucose concentration based on the hypothesis that glucose has major effect on blood plasma refractive index; b) gas-cell reference PhS-OCT development; c) preliminary results on the sensitivity and stability of the glucose concentration measured in vitro; and d) suggested design for the intravascular glucose sensor. Successful development of a continuous real-time blood glucose sensor can crucially impact the care and treatment of critical-care and diabetic patients in the ICU.

Roman V. Kuranov, Ph.D., is a Principle Scientist in the Wasatch Photonics, Inc. Wasatch photonics is a dynamically developing company focused on innovative optical solutions including Optical Coherence Tomography and Raman Spectroscopy. Dr. Kuranov received his MS in Physics from Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, in 1995. He earned his Ph.D. in Laser Physics from the Institute of Applied Physics RAS, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia in 2003. As a postdoctoral researcher he was trained in non-invasive glucose monitoring using Time-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in the Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. He developed intravascular Swept-Source OCT systems at Cardiospectra and later at Volcano Corporation. Dr. Kuranov joined the research faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) in 2009. He joined Wasatch Photonics in 2012.