Investigations towards non-invasive blood analysis using resonance Raman at the bulbar conjunctiva

Dependency upon infrastructure and skilled workers spurs the need for innovation in blood analysis devices to improve accessibility and efficiency. A proposed method of non-invasively determining biomarkers in blood is to measure the resonance Raman response at the bulbar conjunctiva allowing for selectivity, sensitivity, and access to blood vessels exposed to ambient air. In order to do so, several key questions are required to establish this method, one being whether or not biomarkers can be detected, identified, and quantified at biological concentrations in whole blood. The following thesis measures a single biomarker (all-E beta carotene) in an organic solvent (ethanol) at biological concentrations and preliminary results detecting carotenoids in diluted bovine calf serum. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate peak locations at 1008, 1158 and 1525 cm-1 and a linear response (R2 > 0.99) between resonance Raman peak intensity and concentration of beta carotene in ethanol at biological concentrations (SNRB = 2.9 at ~1 μM).