Comparison of evanescent wave spectroscopy based on silver halide fibres with conventional ATR-IR spectroscopy

With improved optical and mechanical properties of crystalline silver halide fibres, the development of novel accessories, in particular of Bow-through cells with an inner volume of a few microlitres or disposable sensor parts for sample measurement, is possible. These features enable process monitoring, for example, when only minute sample volumes at low flow rates are available such as in the case of in vivo blood glucose sensing using microdialysis. The performance of some fibre-optic sensors based on evanescent field absorption is compared with that of conventional attenuated total reflection spectroscopy equipment for studying microsamples of biofluids. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.