| Description |
In order to increase the automation and efficiency for a national reference laboratory, the ability to quantify interferences like Hemolysis, Icterus, and Lipemia in serum samples is investigated. The system is intended as a screening step prior to clinical analysis of medical samples to prevent false results caused by the interferences. The system is based on selective absorption of transmitted light by the interferences that cause loss of light at specific wavelengths. The absorption spectra of interferences are analyzed to identify the appropriate wavelengths, resulting in a mathematical formulation between the absorbance and concentrations. An absorption wavelength is selected so that the transmitted power of light through a tube with the sample significantly decreased due to the presence of condition of interest, while the reference wavelength is selected so that the transmitted light varies mostly due to the presence of tube material and labels and does not vary due to the presence of interference. A computational model is formulated using a commercial software package, ANSYS FLUENT, in order to understand the absorption and scattering effects, the thermal effects of higher power irradiation on the biological samples, as well as to determine the radiant power of transmitted light through the sample for different power levels. The Discrete Ordinates Method is used to model the radiation through a participating medium. The temperature distribution and spectral power of transmitted radiation are determined for water in a tube for different wavelengths used in the current system. |
