Minimally invasive optoelectronic sensing technique for chemical analysis of aqueous humour

The determination of the concentration of drugs and other compounds within the anterior chamber of the eye is a measurement of great interest in ophthalmic science. A minimally invasive optoelectronic technique to identify and measure various compounds using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, and involving fibre optics, is described. These experiments demonstrate the technical feasibility of an optoelectronic instrument for drug concentration estimation in the anterior chamber by employing absorption measurements. Both model and real animal eyes were used in the experiments. Compounds such as fluorescein and tetracycline, the latter a commonly used antibiotic for ophthalmic applications, have been detected in the anterior chamber of perfused animal eyes using this technique.