High-sensitivity optical fiber probe for simultaneous measurement of chloride ions and temperature.

A fiber optic probe for the simultaneous measurement of chloride ions and temperature is presented. The Ag/alginate composite film is used as the reflective surface of the Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) and is a sensitive film for the adsorption of chloride ions. The experimental results show that the Fabry-Perot (FP) response sensitivity is approximately 1.4689 nm/µM as the chloride ion concentration changes from 1 to 9 µM, but the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is insensitive to chloride ions. When the temperature is changed from 35°C to 80°C, the response sensitivities of the FP and the FBG are about 0.7 and 0.01115 nm/°C, respectively.

Antiepileptic drug concentration detection based on Raman spectroscopy and an improved snake optimization-convolutional neural network algorithm.

A method for measurement of antiepileptic drug concentrations based on Raman spectroscopy and an optimization algorithm for mathematical models are proposed and investigated. This study uses Raman spectroscopy to measure mixed antiepileptic drugs, and an Improved Snake Optimization (ISO)-Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm is proposed. Raman spectroscopy is widely used in the identification of pharmaceutical ingredients due to its sharp peaks, no pre-treatment of samples and non-destructive detection. To analyze the spectral data precisely, a machine learning method is used in this paper. The ISO algorithm is an improved intelligent swarm algorithm in which the method of generating random solutions is improved, which can ensure that a comprehensive local search of the model is performed, the global search capability is maintained at a later stage, and the convergence speed is accelerated. In this study, 360 groups of oxcarbazepine, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine drug mixtures are measured using Raman spectroscopy, and the raw spectral data after pre-processing are trained and evaluated using ISO-CNN algorithms, and the results are compared and analyzed with those obtained from other algorithms such as the Northern Goshawk Optimization algorithm, Chameleon Swarm Algorithm, and White Shark Optimizer algorithm. The results show that the best ISO-CNN algorithm training is achieved for oxcarbazepine, with a determination coefficient and root mean square error of 0.99378 and 0.0295 for the validation set, and 0.99627 and 0.0278 for the test set. The overall results suggest that Raman spectroscopy combined with machine learning algorithms can be a potential tool for drug concentration prediction.

A detection method of typical toxic mixed red tide algae in Qinhuangdao based on three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy.

Red tides occur every year in the Qinhuangdao sea area of China, including a variety of toxic algae and non-toxic algae. Toxic red tide algae have caused great damage to the marine aquaculture industry in China and seriously endangered human health, but most of non-toxic algae are important bait for marine plankton. Therefore, it is very important to identify the type of mixed red tide algae in Qinhuangdao sea area. In this paper, three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy and chemometrics were applied to the identification of typical toxic mixed red tide algae in Qinhuangdao. Firstly, the three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum data of typical mixed red tide algae in Qinhuangdao sea area were measured by f-7000 fluorescence spectrometer, and the contour map of algae samples was obtained. Secondly, the contour spectrum analysis is carried out to find the excitation wavelength of the peak position of the three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum and form the new three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum data selected by the feature interval. Then, the new three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum data are extracted by principal component analysis (PCA). Finally, the feature extraction data and the data without feature extraction are used as the input of the genetic optimization support vector machine (GA-SVM) and particle swarm optimization support vector machine (PSO-SVM) classification models, respectively, to obtain the classification model of mixed red tide algae, and the two feature extraction analysis methods and two classification algorithms are compared. The results show that the classification accuracy of the test set using the principal component feature extraction and GA-SVM classification method is 92.97 %, when the excitation wavelengths are 420 nm, 440 nm, 480 nm, 500 nm and 580 nm, and the emission wavelengths are 650-750 nm. Therefore, it is feasible and effective to apply the three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum characteristics and genetic optimization support vector machine classification method to the identification of toxic mixed red tide algae in Qinhuangdao sea area.

Highly birefringent one-air-hole panda fiber.

This Letter proposes a highly birefringent one-air-hole panda fiber, which is fabricated by corroding a single stress zone of the traditional panda-type polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF). An additional geometric asymmetry is induced in the fiber to increase the birefringence effect and enhance the light-matter interaction, which improves the performance of the sensor and the device applications of the special fiber. A theoretical and experimental analysis of the one-air-hole panda fiber demonstrates that the birefringence of the fiber can be of the order of 10-3, which is one order of magnitude higher than that of the traditional panda-type fiber. The corroded region provides a microchannel to be filled with a functional material to compose optical fiber sensors; a sample of a salt solution was filled into the microchannel to measure the refractive index with a sensitivity of 3760 nm/RIU (refractive index units).

All-fiber LP01-LP11 ultra-broadband mode converters based on T-superimposed long period gratings in PCF.

In order to cover the bandwidth of optical fiber communication, a LP01-LP11 ultra-broadband mode converter based on triple superimposed long period grating in PCF is proposed and demonstrated. The transmission spectra of the D-SLPG with gratings pitches and the T-SLPG were simulated and analyzed. The simulation results on the D-SLPG indicate that the 3 dB bandwidth of the D-SLPG is more than 1.5 times than the 3 dB bandwidth of the independent LPG and the 3 dB bandwidth of T-SLPG approaches 2.6 times as much as the independent LPG. In the experiment, the mode converter based on PCF-T-SLPG covers the wavelength of S + C + L with 3 dB bandwidth of 121 nm from 1498 nm to 1619 nm. In addition, the mode converter based on PCF-T-SLPG can accomplish ultra-broadband transmission in any wavelength by adjusting the period of gratings.

Highly sensitive temperature sensing probes based on liquid cladding elliptical micro/nanofibers.

A highly sensitive temperature probe based on a liquid cladding elliptical micro/nanofiber is proposed, which exploits a fiber loop mirror with an output port probe for remote and highly-sensitive measurements based on evanescent field coupling. The thermo-optical effective liquid cladding avoids the influence of other environmental parameters (except for temperature), while protecting the micro/nanofibers from external disturbance and contamination. This renders the sensing probe only sensitive to temperature changes, making it suitable for real-world temperature measurements. An isopropanol cladding elliptical microfiber with a diameter of 3.4 µm demonstrated a sensitivity of -16.38 nm/°C for a remote temperature measurement.

Robust microfiber photonic microcells for sensor and device applications.

We report the fabrication of in-line photonic microcells (PMCs) by encapsulating tapered microfibers (MFs) inside glass tubes. The encapsulation isolates MFs from external environment and makes them more suitable for real-world applications. Based on PMCs with encapsulated highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) MFs, we demonstrated pressure, temperature and refractive index (RI) sensors as well as long period grating devices. A fiber Sagnac loop interferometer incorporating a Hi-Bi microfiber PMC demonstrated RI sensitivity of 2024 nm per RI unit (nm/RIU) in gaseous environment and 21231 nm/RIU in water.

Structural polarization-rocking filters in highly birefringent microfibers.

We report the first fabrication, to our knowledge, of polarization-rocking filters in highly birefringent elliptical microfibers. A rocking filter was made by periodically heating/twisting a microfiber with an ellipticity of ∼0.7 and a diameter of ∼2.8 µm along its major axis. Strong input polarization suppression of ∼20 dB was achieved at a resonant wavelength of ∼1556.4 nm with a device length of ∼3 mm.

Polarization converters in highly birefringent microfibers.

A novel type of polarization converters (PCs) based on highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) microfibers is presented. Analytical formulation based on the Jones Matrix method and a numerical code based on the Full Vectorial Finite Difference Beam Propagation Method are developed to analyze the polarization evolutions in such PCs. Two different design configurations, namely the "one-side" and "two-side" perturbation configurations, are studied by use of the two methods, and the results obtained agree well with each others. The PCs can be flexibly designed to have different operating wavelengths, spectral bandwidths, and devices lengths. A particular PC based on an elliptical microfiber demonstrates a bandwidth of ∼ 600 nm around 1550 nm with a device length of ∼ 150 µm.

Tunable comb filters and refractive index sensors based on fiber loop mirror with inline high birefringence microfiber.

Highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) microfiber-based fiber loop mirrors (FLMs) were studied for tunable comb filters and refractive index (RI) sensors. The use of two cascaded Hi-Bi microfibers instead of a single microfiber allows more flexibility in controlling the transmission/reflection characteristics of the FLM. The length of Hi-Bi microfibers is of the order of centimeters, one or even more than two orders of magnitude shorter than the conventional Hi-Bi fiber-based FLM devices. The transmission/reflection spectra are sensitive to the RI surrounding the microfibers, and RI sensitivity of 20,745 nm/RIU was experimentally demonstrated.

Outcome of fusion of a painful accessory navicular to the primary navicular.

BACKGROUND: An accessory navicular bone may cause pain due to continuous irritation at its interface with the navicular. The authors performed the fusion of the accessory navicular and navicular with screw(s) to relieve the symptoms while preserving the continuity of the posterior tibial tendon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the clinical and radiological outcomes of 31 consecutive patients (34 feet) with a painful type II accessory navicular. RESULTS: Bone union was confirmed on plain radiography in 28 (82%) of 34 feet. Twenty-two patients (24 feet) were assessed as excellent, two (three feet) as good, and one (one foot) as fair. Nonunion developed in six patients (six feet) and was defined as poor. CONCLUSION: When conservative treatment fails to relieve pain in a type II accessory navicular, fusion of the accessory navicular to the navicular may successfully relieve pain without disrupting the tibialis posterior tendon insertion.