www.ijpsonline.

com
Review Article

Introduction to fiber optics: Sensors for biomedical

applications
R. Y. SHAH* AND Y. K. AGRAWAL
Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Institute of Research and Development, Gujarat Forensic Sciences
University, Gandhinagar - 382 007, India

Shah and Agrawal: Fiber Optics for Pharmaceuticals

The paper focuses on the introduction of fiber optics, a fusion of science and engineering and describes the materials
generally used for its construction along with the procedure used to design the fibers. It gives an idea of the materials
used for the construction along with the pros and cons associated with them and various factors governing the
emission of ultraviolet, infrared or visible radiations. The central core revolves around the applications of optical
fibers in the medical and biomedical field and extending the use of the same in pharmaceutical industry as probes
in quality control and dosage form analysis.

Key words: Optical fibers, optical sensors, pharmaceuticals, total internal reflection

Fiber optics, though used meticulously in the modern

world, is a quite simple and old technology. The
principle of light guidance by refraction phenomenon,
was first established by Colladon and Babinet in
Paris in the early 1840s, as a base for fiber optics[1].
Fiber optics is mainly used for transmitting radiation
from one component to another with help of fibers[2].
Optical fibers are fine strands of glass or plastic,
single or bunch of which is used for transmission of
radiation from one compartment to another to several
hundreds of feet, not only for observation purpose,
but also for illumination of objects. The essential Fig. 1: Optical fiber based total internal reflection
feature for transmission of light in an optical fiber Light transmission (1) in an optical fiber occurs by total internal
which occurs by total internal reflection is that the reflection for which the transmitting fiber is coated with outer
cladding material (3) that has lower refractive index than the inner
transmitting fiber must be coated with the material core material (2).
that has refractive index smaller (Cladding material)
than that of fiber material (Core) as shown in the have a narrow glass core of uniform refractive index
fig. 1. The emission of ultra violet, visible or infrared profile and transmit only a single mode for light of a
radiations by the fiber depends on the choice of specific wavelength range and linearly polarized state.
construction material[3]. Monomode fibers produce a Gaussian spatial intensity
distribution at their distal end, whereas multimode
The transmission of light by total internal reflection fibers have a greater core diameter and can transmit
along the fiber allows only certain modes for many a hundreds of light modes having either a
propagation which depend on the diameter of the uniform or parabolically profiled cross sectional
fiber and the wavelength of the light used. Two types refractive index. It is much easier to commence high
of fibers are offered for a given incident wavelength intensities into multimodal fibers because of their
namely, monomode and multimode. Monomode fibers larger core size and higher numerical aperture, than
their monomodal equivalents or counterparts. They do
*Address for correspondence however, have disadvantages related to modal noise.
E-mail: [email protected] Any thermal or mechanical annoyance to the fiber
January - February 2011 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 17
 www.ijpsonline.com

affects each transmitted mode in a diverse way. As Evanescent wave fluorescent sensor:
a result, although the total light intensity at the fiber A negative or non-guiding fiber is a permeable fiber
exit remains constant, the far field radiation pattern in which the power loss depends on the length of
formed by intervention of these modes changes with the fiber and can be optimised for fluorescence
time[4]. collection efficiency into the positive or guiding
fiber attached to the output end of the negative
Unlike glass or plastic, the varied materials of fiber. This is in contrast to the positive fibre for
construction are silica, fluorides, phosphates and which the collection efficiency is independent of
chalcogenide. The construction of model optical fibre length and depends only on the difference in
fiber initiates with the development of large refractive index between core and cladding material
diameter preform of desired refractive index, of the fiber. The sensor described is based on a
pulling from which produces a long thin optical fiber having two different fibres, one guiding and
fiber. The preform is commonly made by three other non-guiding. The combination of a guiding
chemical vapour deposition methods: Inside vapour fibre and a non-guiding fibre can detect fluorescence
deposition, outside vapour deposition, and vapour emitted from molecules attached to the surface of
axial deposition[5]. Extensively used phosphate glass the negative fibre as shown in fig. 2[10,11].
can be advantageous over silica glass for optical
fibers with a high concentration of doping rare earth Thin film sensors:
ions for the transmission of radiations. A mixture of The presence of immobilizing enzyme layers of
fluoride glass and phosphate glass is fluorophosphate glucose oxidase on chalcogenide fibers lead to the
glass, which is not associated with the disadvantage novel concept of IR fiber optical chemical sensors
of modal noise[6,7]. to analyse glucose in complex aqueous matrices.
The sensing design is based on following the
SENSOR SYSTEMS AND SENSOR TYPES catalyzed reaction of glucose to gluconic acid and
hydrogen peroxide. Monitoring the concentration
The simplest partition of optical sensors is into so of reaction products in the surrounding aqueous
called intrinsic devices, where the interaction occurs solution by evanescent wave spectroscopy believe
actually within an element of the optical fiber itself an enzyme layer thinner than the penetration depth
and extrinsic devices where the optical fiber is used of the irradiation but with maximum reactivity of
to couple light, usually to and from the region where the catalytically active surface to offer a fast sensor
the light beam is influenced by the substance which response. Hence a careful treatment of the fiber
is being measured[8]. surface with 3 aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS)/
glutaraldehyde before immobilizing the enzyme
Luminescent optical fiber sensors: is apparent [12,13]. A newer approach by Taga et al.
The use of luminescent phenomena, directed
chiefly on fluorescence for optical sensing, has
been observed with a range of diverse fiber hosts.
Evidently, those rare earths, which have been
doped most usually into silica based fibers, or
alternatively into fluoride glass or more unusual fiber
materials, can evenly be applied to the generation
of simple fluorescence as to the creation of laser
action. However, unlike the plastic host that has
disadvantage of quenching laser action, there
are ample varieties of other fluorescent materials
which can be used for sensing purpose, where their
primary focus is only on the fluorescence. A key Fig. 2: Fiber based evanescent fluorescent sensor
The combination of a guiding fibre (1) and a non-guiding fibre (2) can
distinction between silica and plastic fiber is the detect fluorescence emitted from molecules attached to the surface
extreme elasticity of the latter, which allows it to of the core of the negative fibre with the help of sensing element (5)
and index matching liquid containing laser sensitive dye (6). This
bent to a greater extent with a smaller radius than fluorescence is channeled by transmission fibers (3) and gathered by
silica fiber[9]. collecting fibers (4). Adopted from ref 11.

18 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences January - February 2011

 www.ijpsonline.com

improves the enzyme density on the fiber surface TABLE 1: GENERAL APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL
was developed by immobilizing glucose oxidase via FIBERS
bacterial S-layer protein[14]. Application of optical fibers in various industries
Communications
Pharmaceuticals
Fluorescent plastic optical fiber sensors:
Spectroscopy
Fibers in this category are characteristically doped Biological and biomedical sciences
with organic dyes which are used extensively in Petrochemicals
the printing industry and for display purposes. They Food and beverage industry
are frequently used for decorative purposes, but Plastic industry
clad (dressed) and coated fibers with a fluorescent Study of soil samples
core are often used in sensing and measurement Understanding the basic chemical reactions
Energy and military services
as a result of their ability to capture light, which
excites them over their whole length. The kind of
fluorescent sensors are used to measure ambient dimensions and enough durability. Fiber optic probes
light [15], monitor faults in circuits and switches [16], can be introduced into an autoclave (via the usually
humidity measurement[17], environment sensing and standard thermocouple calibration port) and thus
detection of gaseous pollutants[18]. can continuously monitor the progress of reactions
(e.g. degradation) as a function of the operating
APPLICATIONS conditions. Druy et al. utilized this approach to
monitor ongoing processes in industries, notably to
Fibre optic sensors have numerous applications in monitor heal rates of polymer laminates at higher
diverse branches of science and engineering, as is temperature and pressures[27,28].
evident from a vast range of properties which has
been sensed optically, ranging from light intensity, Protein analysis:
vibration, temperature, pressure, calibration of FTIR with fiber optic probe is useful for protein
accelerometers, strain, liquid level, pH, chemical analysis since high quality spectra can be obtained
analysis, concentration, density, refractive index of from low concentrations of analyte in a variety of
liquids etc [19,20]. Refractometer are frequently used environments without any interference. Globular
for the study of molecular structure and identification proteins usually exhibit regions of secondary
of organic compounds [21,22] . The overall general structure including alpha helices, P-sheets, turns and
applications of optical fibers are described in Table 1. non-ordered regions. Each of these conformational
entities contributes to the IR spectrum in the amide
Glucose sensor: I contour region. In addition to the study of protein
Earlier times, ultra violet radiation and immobilized in its dried state, FTIR coupled with fiber optic
probes were used for sensing purpose [23,24] , but probes has been particularly useful for the study of
nowadays a fiber based pH meter has been soluble proteins, whose structures had not previously
developed in which the cladding material is replaced been elucidated using X-ray diffraction or NMR
with polyaniline polymer, a polymer with broad spectroscopy[29,30].
sensitivity to pH[25]. Since only a single broad band
is to be measured, the system adapts itself to an Dosage form analysis:
IR laser diode system which offers a potential for Dreassi and co workers have reported the application
miniaturization and greater portability. Brown et of an optical fiber probe for quality control in the
al. modified the sensor by using glucose oxidase pharmaceutical industry[31]. The system was used to
immobilised on the polyaniline polymer surface quantitatively determine the content of a number
(an enzyme which converts glucose to glucuronic of pharmaceutical solid dosage forms containing
add, resulting in a pH change) to predict glucose ibuprofen, and powders containing benzydamine
concentration[26]. an analogue of cetrimide. A team from Burroughs-
Wellcome have taken this one step ahead and have
Laminate cure analysis: performed identification tests on tablets through the
Monitoring reactions in hostile environment becomes plastic wall of the blister packaging[32] to distinguish
much easy with these probes having smaller between film coated and uncoated tablets and
January - February 2011 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 19
 www.ijpsonline.com

between active and placebo forms. The technique measurements, the 10 cm fiber collectors were
satisfied the requirements of a confirmation of coupled to the FTIR and samples were monitored.
identity test prior to use in a clinical trial[33]. Further study revealed the comparative analysis of
tetrachlorethylene and waste water samples showing
Fiber optical scanning in TLC for drug a good concord with standard gas chromatographic
identification: techniques[39].
Ahrens et al. proposed an organized toxicological
analysis procedure using high-performance thin layer Other applications:
chromatography in combination with fibre optical Fiber optic probe is not only used for the
scanning densitometry for recognition of drugs in determination of water by near infrared reflectance
biological samples. The technique allowed parallel spectroscopy [40] but also for determination of
recording of chromatograms by identifying the drugs penicillamine in pharmaceuticals and human plasma
and comparing their ultra violet spectra with the data by capillary electrophoresis with in column fiber
obtained from library as a reference spectra[34]. optics light emitting diode induced fluorescence
detection [41] . Fiber lasers are also used for the
Determination of DNA oligomers: military applications, biological and biomedical
Kleinjung and group demonstrated the binding of applications and highly sensitive airborne trace gas
DNA oligonucleotides to immobilized DNA targets detection[42,43].
using a fiber optic fluorescence sensor. 13 mer
oligonucleotides were attached to the core of a Applications that are made possible by the use
multimode fiber and the complementary sequence of filtered fiber optic Raman probes include such
was identified by using a fluorescent double stranded things as measuring high levels of organic solvent
specific DNA ligand. The evanescent field was used contaminants in soils and aquifers, chemical process
to differentiate between bound and unbound species. monitoring of petrochemicals and distillation products,
The template DNA oligomer was immobilized either monitoring polymer cure reactions in situ and many
by direct coupling to the activated sensor surface or others[44-46].
using the avidin biotin bridge to detect the single base
mismatches in the target sequence[35]. In spectroscopy, in order to analyse the composition
of substance that cannot be placed into the
Pesticide detection: spectrometer itself can be measured by optical
Rajan and group, fabricated and characterized surface bundles by transmitting the light from a spectrometer
plasmon resonance (SPR) based fiber-optic sensor to a substance. A spectrometer analyzes substances
for the detection of organophosphate pesticide. Over by bouncing light off of and through them. By using
the silver coated core of plastic cladded silica (PCS) fibers, a spectrometer can be used to study objects
fiber, the acetylcholine esterase (AChE) enzyme that are too large to fit inside, or gases, or reactions
was immobilized to prepare the probe, the detection which occur in pressure vessels[47].
of which is based on the principle of competitive
binding of the pesticide (acting as inhibitor) for the FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
substrate (acetyl thiocholine iodide) to the enzyme
AChE. For the fixed concentration of substrate, With such an ongoing demand of optical fibers in the
the SPR wavelength decreases with increase in the science world, novel techniques like such fiber optic
concentration of the pesticide, this increase in pesticide probes in Raman and Attenuated Total Reflectance
amount causes an overall decrease in the sensitivity[36]. can be used for communications, military and defense,
sensing and biomedical imaging. These probes can
Effluent monitoring: also help in the authentication of the drug product,
Krska et al. reported the environmental and thus preventing the drug counterfeit.
hazard associated with the use of chlorinated
hydrocarbons by pharmaceutical manufacturers[37,38]. CONCLUSIONS
Chlorohydrocarbons have their strongest absorption
bands and therefore polycrystalline silver halide An optical fiber made up of a core carries the light
fibers are of value as light guides. For quantitative pulses which are not only used for sensing but also
20 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences January - February 2011
 www.ijpsonline.com

for the illumination purpose. Fiber optic probes 22. Ross IN, Mbanu A. Optical monitoring of glucose concentration. Opt
Laser Technol 1985;17:31.
undergo total internal reflection and aid in possible 23. Jones, Porter MD. Optical pH sensor based on the chemical
future biomedical applications to carry out the modification of a porous polymer film. Anal Chem 1988;60:404-6.
simultaneous collection and analysis of samples for 24. Zhang S, Tanaka S, Wickramsighe YA, Rolfe P. Fiber-optical sensor
based on fluorescence indicator for monitoring physiological pH values.
drug safety evaluation. It also helps in the sensing of Med Biol Eng Comput 1995;33:152-6.
biomolecules, identification of drug molecules, effluent 25. Ge ZF. Fiber optic near and mid infrared spectroscopy and clinical
monitoring and overall pharmaceutical quality control applications. Diss Abstr Int 1995;55:3855.
26. Brown, Chen. Near and mid infrared chemical and biological sensors.
of the product. Probes aid in the development of Proc. SPIE Int Sot Opt Eng 1995;2506:243-50.
kinetics profile and are associated with short sample 27. Druy, Glatkowski, Stevenson WA. Embedded optical fiber sensors for
times, allowing the identification and measurement monitoring cure cycles of composites. In Proc. ADPA/AIAA/ ASME/
SPIE. UK: IOP Publishers; 1992.
more accurate and reliable. 28. Druy, Glatkowski, Stevenson, WA. Mid IR tapered chalcogenide fiber
optic attenuated total reflectance (ATR) sensors for monitoring epoxy
resin chemistry. SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng 1993;2089:114-20.
REFERENCES 29. Harris PI, Chapman D. Does Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
provide useful information on protein structures? TIBS 1992;17:
1. Bates RJ. Optical Switching and Networking Handbook. New York: 328-33.
McGraw Hill publishers; 2001. p. 10. 30. Mantele W. Reaction induced infra-red spectroscopy for the study of
2. Chabay I. Optical waveguides. Photon plumbing for the chemistry lab: protein function and reaction mechanisms. TIBS 1993;18:197-202.
Fiber optics wave guides and evanescent waves as tools for chemical 31. Dreassi E, Ceramelli G, Corti P, Massacesi M, Perruccio PL.
analysis. Anal Chem 1982;54:1071A-80. Quantitative Fourier transform near infra red spectroscopy in the quality
3. Skoog DA, Holler FJ, Crouch SR. Instrumental Analysis. India ed. control of sold pharmaceutical formulations. Analyst 1995;120:2361-5.
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage learning; 2007. p. 233. 32. MacDonald BF, Gemperline PJ, Boyer NR. A near infrared reflectance
4. Macfadyen AJ, Jennings BR. Fibre optic systems for dynamic light analysis method for the non invasive identification of film coated and
scattering –a review. Optics Laser Technol 1990;22:175-87. non film coated, blister packed tablets. Chim Acta 1995;310:43-51.
5. Gowar J. Optical communication systems. 2nd ed. Hempstead UK: 33. Blanco M, Coello J, Iturriaga H, Maspoch S, Russo E. Control analysis
Prentice Hall; 1993. p. 209. of a pharmaceutical preparation by near infrared Dempster reflectance
6. Karabulut M. Mechanical and structural properties of phosphate glasses. spectroscopy. A comparative study of a spinning module and a fiber
J Non-Cryst Solids 2001;288:8. optic probe. Anal Chim Acta 1994;298:183-91.
7. Kurkjian C. Mechanical properties of phosphate glasses. J Non-Cryst 34. Ahrens B, Blankenhorn D, Spangenberg B. Advanced fibre optical
Solids 2000;207:263-64. scanning in thin layer chromatography for drug identification. J
8. Zhang ZY, Grattan KT. Survey of US patent activity in optical Chromatogr B 2002;772:11-8.
fiber sensors. European Workshop on Optical Fibre Sensors. SPIE 35. Kleinjung F, Bier, Axe, Warsinke, Frieder W, Scheller. Fibre-optic
1998;3483:218-22. genosensor for specific determination of femtomolar DNA oligomers.
9. Grattan KT, Sun T. Fiber optic sensor technology: An overview. Sens Anal Chim Acta 1997;350:51-8.
Actuators 2000;82:40-61. 36. Rajan, Chand S, Gupta BD. Surface plasmon resonance based
10. Glass TR, Lackie S, Hirschfeld T. Effect of numerical aperture on fiber optic sensor for the detection of pesticide. Sens Actuators B
signal level in cylindrical waveguide evanescent fluoro-sensors. Appl 2007;123:661-6.
Opt 1987;26:2181-7. 37. Krska R, Rosenberg E, Taga K, Kellner R, Messica A, Katzir A.
Polymer Coated silver halide infrared fiber as sensing devices for
11. Ahmad M, Chang K, King TA, Hench LL. A compact fiber based
chlorinated hydrocarbons in water. Appl Phys Lett 1992;61:1778-80.
fluorescence sensor. Sens Actuators A 2005;119:84-9.
38. Krska R, Taga K, Kellner R. Simultaneous in situ trace analysis of
12. Taga K, Kellner R. 8th Fourier transform spectroscopy, Conf. SPIE
several chlorinated hydrocarbons in water with an IR fiber optical
Proc 1992;1575:238-40.
system. J Mol Structure 1993;294:l-4.
13. Kellner R, Taga K. Optical science and engineering, SPIE Proc
39. Krska R, Taga K, Kellner R. New IR fiber optic chemical sensor for
1991;1510:232.
in situ measurements of chlorinated hydrocarbons in water. App Spect
14. Taga K, Kellner R, Kainz U, Sleytr UB. In situ attenuated total 1993;47:1484-7.
reflectance FT-IR analysis of an enzyme-modified mid-infrared 40. Blanco M, Coello J, Iturriaga H, Maspoch S, Rovira E. Determination
fiber surface using crystalline bacterial surface proteins. Anal Chem of water in ferrous lactate by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy
1994;66:35-9. with a fiber optics probe. J Pharm Biomed Anal 1997;16:255-62.
15. Grattan KT, Meggitt BT. Optical Fiber Sensor Technology. London: 41. Yang X, Yuan H, Wang C, Su X, Hu L, Xiao D. Determination of
Kluwer Academic Publishing; 1998-2000. p. 1-5. penicillamine in pharmaceuticals and human plasma by capillary
16. Augousti AT, Mason J, Grattan KT. A simple fiber optic level sensor electrophoresis within column fiber optics light emitting diode induced
using fluorescent fiber. Rev Sci Instrum 1990;61:3854. fluorescence detection. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2007;45:362-6.
17. Muto S, Fukasawa A, Kamimura M, Shinmura F, Ito H. Fiber 42. Richter D, Fried A, Wert BP, Walega JG, Kittel FK. Development of
humidity sensor using fluorescent dye-doped plastics. Jpn J Appl Phys a tunable mid IR difference frequency laser source for highly sensitive
1989;28:1065. airborne trace gas detection. Appl Phys B 2002;75:281-8.
18. Sawada H, Tanaka A, Wakatsuki N. Plastic optical fiber doped with 43. Greenwald J, Rosen S, Anderson RR. Comparative histological studies
organic fluorescent materials. Fujitsu Sci Techno J 1989;25:163. of the tunable dye (at 577 nm) dye laser and argon laser: The specific
19. Binu S. Calibration of accelerometers by using an extrinsic fiber optic vascular effects of the dye laser. J Invest Dermatol 1981;77:305-10.
probe. Microw Opt Technol Lett 2007;49:2700. 44. Lyon RE, Chike KE, Angel SM. In situ cure monitoring of epoxy
20. Culshaw B. Optical systems and sensors for measurement and control. resins using fiber-optic probe. J Appl Polym Sci 1994;53:1805.
J Phys E 1983;16:978. 45. Angel SM, Vess T, Langry K, Kyle, Kulp T. In Proceedings of
21. Karrer E, Orr RS. A Photoelectric Refractometer. J Opt Soc Am Symposium on Chemical Sensors II. J Electrochem Soc 1993;93:625.
1946;36:42. 46. Garrison AA, Moore CF, Roberts MJ, Hall PD. Distillation process

January - February 2011 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 21

 www.ijpsonline.com

control using fourier tranform raman spectroscopy. Process Control Accepted 18 January 2011
Qual 1992;3:57-63.
Revised 12 January 2011
47. Mosheky Z, Melling PJ, Thomson MA. In situ real time monitoring of
a fermentation reaction using a fiber optic FT-IR probe. Spectroscopy Received 7 July 2010
2001;16:15. Available from: http://www.remspec.com/pdfs/SP5619.pdf. Indian J. Pharm. Sci., 2011, 73 (1): 17-22

22 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences January - February 2011