Abstract

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a lifesaving treatment for a large number of patients suffering from different pathologies, from cancer to intestinal failure, from eating disorders to inflammatory bowel disease. In PN, liquid nutritive drugs are injected into the patient’s body intravenously through an infusion delivery pump. As reported in the scientific literature, among all medical treatments, PN is the most commonly prone one to human errors [1]. In particular, very often wrong PN mixtures (PNMs) are administered. The consequences can be very dangerous to the patient’s health, leading to death in the most severe cases. Despite this fact, currently no standard safety protocols or control devices are implemented to prevent medication errors in PN. Hence, in the framework of the DSF (Digital Smart Fluidics – project No. 1175234, founded by POR FESR 2014–2020), we have developed an optofluidic sensing platform to distinguish different types of transparent commercial PNMs on the basis of their refractive index (RI). Indeed, each mixture contains different concentrations of glucose, amino acids, and electrolytes, determining different values of their RI. The instrumental configuration of the sensor (Fig 1(a)) features a laser diode that generates a red beam (wavelength of 670 nm) travelling obliquely through a plastic cuvette channel containing the PNM under test. Light is then back-reflected by a mirror applied to the back of the cuvette, and finally exits the channel at a position that depends on the RI of the PNM.

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