Scientists have developed a new method to monitor sodium levels in the blood without drawing a single drop.
By combining terahertz radiation and optoacoustic detection, they created a non-invasive system that tracks sodium in real-time, even through the skin. The approach bypasses traditional barriers, such as water interference, and opens up the potential for fast and safe diagnostics in humans.
Accurate measurement of blood sodium is essential for diagnosing and managing conditions such as dehydration, kidney disease and certain neurological and endocrine disorders.
Terahertz radiation, which falls between microwaves and the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, is ideal for biological applications because it is low-energy and non-harmful to tissues, scatters less than near-infrared and visible light and is sensitive to structural and functional biological changes.
“For biomedical applications, terahertz spectroscopy still faces two key challenges: detecting molecules other than water in complex biological samples and penetrating thick tissue layers to enable detection inside the body,” said research team leader Zhen Tian from Tianjin University in China.
“By adding optoacoustic detection, we were able to overcome these challenges and demonstrate the first in vivo detection of ions using terahertz waves. This is an important step toward making terahertz-based techniques practical for clinical use,” added Zhen.
In Optica, the flagship journal of Optica Publishing Group for high-impact research, researchers describe their new multispectral terahertz optoacoustic system and demonstrate that it can be used for non-invasive, long-term monitoring of sodium concentration in live mice without the need for labels. Source: ANI
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