Portable Oxygen-Sensing Device for the Improved Assessment of Compartment Syndrome and other Hypoxia-Related Conditions

• Published in: ACS sensors Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 43 - 53
• Main Authors: Witthauer, Lilian, Cascales, Juan Pedro, Roussakis, Emmanuel, Li, Xiaolei, Goss, Avery, Chen, Yenyu, Evans, Conor L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 22.01.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Compartment Syndromes; Hypoxia; Optical Fibers; Oxygen; Swine; trauma; hypoxia; compartment syndrome; porphyrin; phosphorescence; fasciotomy; tissue oxygenation; ischemia
• ISSN: 2379-3694; 2379-3694
• DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01686

Measurement of intramuscular oxygen could play a key role in the early diagnosis of acute compartment syndrome, a common condition occurring after severe trauma leading to ischemia and long-term consequences including rhabdomyolysis, limb loss, and death. However, to date, there is no existing oxygen sensor approved for such a purpose. To address the need to improve the assessment of compartment syndrome, a portable fiber-optic device for intramuscular oxygen measurements was developed. The device is based on phosphorescence quenching, where the tip of an optical fiber was coated with a poly­(propyl methacrylate) (PPMA) matrix containing a brightly emitting Pt­(II)-core porphyrin. The optoelectronic circuit is highly portable and is based on a microspectrometer and a microcontroller readout with a smartphone. Results from an in vivo tourniquet porcine model show that the sensor is sensitive across the physiological oxygen partial pressure range of 0–80 mmHg and exhibits an appropriate and reproducible response to changes in intramuscular oxygen. A commercial laboratory oxygen sensor based on a lifetime measurement did not respond as expected.