STTR PHASE I: PLANAR ARRAY INFRARED(PA-IR): A COMPACT RUGGED DOUBLE BEAM INFRARED

描述(由申请人提供)：目前有相当数量的研究计划针对利用振动光谱(红外、近红外和拉曼)作为各种疾病的诊断工具。几乎所有这些努力都利用现有的商业仪器，这些仪器用于红外测量几乎完全依赖傅立叶变换红外(FT-IR)干涉仪。为了使这些现有计划的结果有效地从实验室转移到床边(转化性研究)，需要有新一代红外和近红外仪器，即1)常规和非标准测量的实验室质量，以及2)便携式、现场可部署和对各种物质(蛋白质、代谢物和血液成分)的响应。这种红外仪器必须能够在实验室内快速产生高质量的光谱，同时具有在实验室外环境条件下对生物相关物种进行低水平分析所需的灵敏度和固有稳定性。我们提出设计和构建一种新型的基于焦平面阵列探测的便携式、超高速红外仪。这种平面阵列红外(PA-IR)仪器将提供时间分辨率(10-15毫秒)，以跟踪“实时”不可逆过程，并提供当前FT-IR仪器难以获取的时间刻度信息。该仪器还将能够进行实时背景校正，从而提供大气中水蒸气的补偿，对于水溶液中的蛋白质的情况下的液态水的补偿(本应用)，或提供溶剂带的实时减去。当红外线或近红外线测量被转换到临床或床边时，这可能是一个关键问题。我们的长期努力将是扩展这项技术，以创建一种小型便携式PA-IR光谱仪，并进行以下改进。双波束系统将是对所有现有FT-IR系统的显著改进，因为它们不具备同时参考和采样的能力。PA-IR系统还将能够同时获取多个光谱。此外，还将研究使用热电冷却系统，以消除探测器系统需要液氮冷却的情况。如果实现了这些技术目标，我们未来的计划将包括这些仪器的原型制作、制造和销售。我们的长期目标是向学术界、政府和工业界提供这一系统。如果成功，我们将以相当的成本提供相对于当前一代研究级FT-IR仪器的改进能力(采集率和双光束能力)。与公共卫生相关：公共卫生界对将诊断方法从实验室推广到诊所或办公室，“从工作台到床边”有非常强烈的兴趣。这一过渡的一个组成部分是开发小型、紧凑、坚固和可靠的分析仪器。越来越多的研究结果表明振动光谱学与疾病诊断的相关性，这突显了本项目中体现的光谱仪器的必要性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There are currently a significant number of research programs directed at the utilization of vibrational spectroscopy (infrared, near infrared and Raman) as diagnostic tools for a variety of diseases. Almost all of these efforts utilize existing, commercially available instrumentation which for infrared measurements rely almost entirely on Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) interferometers. In order for the results from these existing programs to effectively translate from the laboratory to the bed-side (translational research), there needs to be a new generation of infrared and near infrared instrumentation, that is 1) laboratory quality for both routine and nonstandard measurements, and 2) portable, field deployable, and responsive to a wide variety of substances (proteins, metabolites, and blood components). Such infrared instrumentation must be able to rapidly produce high quality spectra in the laboratory while possessing the requisite sensitivity and inherent stability to do low level analysis of biologically relevant species outside of a laboratory under ambient conditions. We propose to design and construct a new type of portable, ultra-rapid infrared instrument based on focal plane array detection. This planar array IR (PA-IR) instrument will provide the time- resolution (10-15 ms) to follow "real-time" irreversible processes and provide information on a timescale which is not readily accessible to current FT-IR instruments. The instrument will also be capable of performing real-time background corrections thus providing for compensation of water vapor in the atmosphere, for liquid water in the case of proteins in aqueous solutions (this application) or for real time subtraction of solvent bands. This can be a critical issue when the infrared or near infrared measurements are translated to the clinic or bedside. Our longer range effort will be to extend this technology to create a small portable PA-IR spectrometer with the following improvements. The dual beam system will be a marked improvement over all present FT-IR systems as they do not have simultaneous reference and sample capability. The PA-IR system will also be capable of multiple simultaneous spectral acquisitions. In addition, the use of thermoelectric cooling systems will be investigated to eliminate the need for liquid nitrogen cooling of the detector system. If these technical goals are obtained our future plans would include prototyping, manufacturing and sales of these instruments. It is our long term goal to provide this system to academia, government and industry. If successful, we will provide improved capability with respect to the present generation of research grade FT-IR instruments (acquisition rate and dual beam capability) at a comparable cost. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There is a very strong interest in the public health community to drive diagnostic methods from the laboratory to the clinic or office, "bench to bedside". An integral component of this transition is the development of small, compact, rugged and reliable analytical instrumentation. The increasing level of research results showing the relevance of vibrational spectroscopy to disease diagnosis accentuates the need for the spectroscopic instrumentation embodied in this program.