PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Lubos Polerecky

Publications and source records attributed to Lubos Polerecky.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Time-resolved pH/pO2 mapping with luminescent hybrid sensors.

A method for simultaneous and referenced 2D mapping of pH and pO2 is described. The experimental setup combines a fast gateable CCD camera as detector, a LED as excitation light source and a single-layer sensor membrane as optical transducer. The planar optode comprises a lipophilic fluorescein derivative (lifetime approximately 5 ns) and platinum(II) mesotetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (approximately 70 micros in the absence of a quencher) immobilized in a hydrogel matrix. Depending on the fluorescent pH indicator, a pH transition in the physiological range (pH 6-pH 8) or in the near-basic region (pH 7-pH 9) can be achieved. The measuring scheme involves the time-resolved acquisition of images in three windows during a series of square-shaped excitation pulses. A method allowing the calculation of both parameters from these three images is presented. The pH/pO2 hybrid sensor incorporating the pH indicator 2',7'-dihexyl-5(6)-N-octadecyl-carboxamidofluorescein was characterized in detail. The pH and pO2 were determined with a maximum deviation of 0.03 pH unit and 6.5 hPa pO2, respectively, within the range of pH 7.6-pH 8.7 and 0-200 hPa pO2 in test measurements. The ionic strength (IS) cross-sensitivity was found to be relatively small (pH/IS < 3.5 x 10(-4) mM(-1) and pO2/IS <-0.053 hPa mM(-1) at a transition from 0.5 to 0.1 M IS). Whereas a strong temperature effect on the sensor signal was observed (DeltapH/DeltaT = 0.011-0.034 K-1 and DeltapO2/DeltaT = 1.85-7.17 hPa K-1 in the range from 277 to 308 K). Examples of pH/pO2 images obtained in natural marine sediment are presented.

Journal Article↗

High temporal resolution oxygen imaging in bioirrigated sediments.

A technique is presented for temporal characterization of the bioirrigation activity of benthic macrofauna and for quantitative estimation of its effects on the oxygen exchange between the sediment and the overlying water. The technique is based on high temporal resolution (15-30 s) oxygen imaging aided by a planar oxygen optode and can be applied under laboratory and field conditions, both freshwater and marine. It allows direct observation of the complex 2D oxygen dynamics in the sediment around the burrow while the animal dwells undisturbed in its natural environment. The conditions to which the animal is exposed can easily be controlled or manipulated. Chironomus plumosus, widely distributed freshwater insect larvae, were used in a case study. Their bioirrigation activity was divided into a random succession of pumping intervals (duration 5.4 +/- 1.7 min) and rest periods (duration 9.2 +/- 5.8 min). The burrow ventilation resulted in a highly variable volume of the oxygenated sediment surrounding the burrow and the associated sedimentary oxygen uptake rate through the burrow wall (OUB), both changing dramatically within minutes. Their variability was higher in a burrow under construction than around a stationary burrow. The average OUB rate (approximately 0.15 micromol O2 h(-1)), when translated into a time-averaged 02 flux across the burrow wall, constituted approximately 64% of the stationary diffusive oxygen flux measured at the sediment-water interface (approximately0.9 mmol O2 m(-2) h(-1)).

Aerobiosis↗

Optimization of absorption-based optical chemical sensors that employ a single-reflection configuration.

An optimization strategy for a generic absorption-based optical chemical sensor that employs a single-reflection planar configuration is reported. A theoretical model describing the sensor sensitivity is presented and verified experimentally. It is shown that optimum sensitivity is not achieved with an evanescent-wave sensing technique but with a configuration in which the interrogating light propagates within the sensing layer. Moreover, an optimization strategy based on identification of an optimized reflection angle is described. This analysis provides an optimization strategy that is extendable to multimode waveguide platforms. The predictions of the model are used in the design of a prototype LED-based sensor system. The performance of this system is examined, and the results are compared with alternative absorption-based sensor configurations.

Journal Article↗