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Portable and Modularized Fluorometer Based On Optical Fiber
Portable and Modularized Fluorometer Based On Optical Fiber
ABSTRACT
A portable and modularized fluorometer based on optical fiber was proposed in this work. The fluorometer included a
light emitter diode (LED) light source module (LSM), a sample cell module (SCM), an optical-electrical converter
module (OCM) and a signal process module (SAM). The LEDs in LSM were driven by a constant current source to
provide stable exciting light with different wavelength. The OCM included a modularized optical filter and used a
photomultiplier tube (PMT) to detect fluorescence signal. The SCM was used to locate sample cuvette and could be
connected by optical fibers with the LSM and OCM. Via modularized design, the LSM and OCM could both selected
and replaced based on different fluorescence dyes. In order to improve the detecting dynamic range of the fluorometer,
the SAM could control the light intensity of LED source in LSM, to control the gain of PMT in OCM, and particularly,
four channel signal acquisition circuits with different gain were constructed to collect fluorescence signal
simultaneously. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was selected as sample to test the fluorometer. The fluorometer has
shown a high sensitivity with FITC concentration of 10ng/mL and presented a good linearity from 10 ng/mL to 10
μg/mL.
Keywords: Fluorometer, Optical Fiber, LED, PMT
1. INTRODUCTION
Fluorescence photometer was the most routine instrument and has widely application in biochemical, environmental and
medical fields [1-3]. However, conventional fluorescence photometer adopts complex light source and optical system to
get homogeneous exciting light and emitting fluorescence signal, the instrument was generally large in size and was
strict with stability which has resulted in an expensive cost. Therefore, it is valuable to develop a kind of low-cost and
stable fluorometer[4].
Since high energy efficiency in producing monochromatic light and the flexibility for changing wavelength as well as
tiny size, light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) have been widely studied and used as light sources in fluorescence system[5-6].
Yongjiang Dong et al. have developed a fluorescence system by using several light emitting diodes (LEDs) with
different wavelengths as excitation light sources for tea classification and quality assessment [7]. Combined with micro-
electro-mechanical systems technique and microfluidic cell chip analytical methodology,LI Dong-Shun et al. have
constructed a LED induced fluorescence detector for monitoring cells in the suspensions with a low concentration below
40 cell/mL[8].
In order to improve the stability of the fluorescence system, optical fiber has been widely adopted in fluorescence
detection [9-11]. SHI Ying et al. have established an approach to continuously record fluorescent signals of rat cerebral
cortical neurons in vivo, using the novel system composed of fiber-optic probe and fluorescence microscopy[12]. The use
of optical fibers combined with immobilized fluorescence sensors is a challenging analytical chemistry area. Helena et
al. have developed a fiber-optic sensor based fluorescent carbon nanoparticles for Hg(II) ions detection[13].
In this work, a portable and modularized fluorometer based on optical fiber and LED has been presented. The
fluorometer included a LED light source module (LSM), a sample cell module (SCM), an optical-electrical converter
module (OCM) and a signal acquisition module (SAM). In order to improve the stability of the system, optical fiber was
used as light guide media. All the modules were connected by optical fibers. Via this design method, a fluorometer with
characteristics of miniaturization and modularization has been developed in this work.
4
1
Signal
Acquisition
Upper Computer
U2
SYNC6 SYNC D
5 D
MCU SCLK7 SCLK C
4 C
DIN 3 B
DIN 8
NC 2 A
GND VCC
A
VCC
DAC 8534Modo le
VCC
MAX 1916
Figure 2. LED drive circuit and photograph of the light source module
2.2 Sample cell module
The schematic and photograph of the sample cell module (SCM) have been shown in Figure 3. Incident optical fiber and
emergent light optical fiber were connected with the SCM through standard SMA905 connectors in orthogonal
directions. Micro cuvette was used as sample cell with capacity about 100 μL. All the SCM was oxygenized with black
color in order to absorb the stay light. The background signal and noise were detected to estimate the sensitivity for the
fluorescence signal.
I \/
Amplification
-0 120dB
-* AD
PMT Gain N
LED
JJJ
DAC8534
DA module
H MCU
STC15f2k60s2
1
Figure 6 Control schematic of the fluorometer
tx 2500 -
W 2000 - 5 t0 50
0
460 480 500 520 540 560
Wavelength (nm)
t 0.1 ug/mL
Ñ 35000 -
c -r 1 ug/mL
5 ug/mL
> 30000 - - 0-10 ug/mL
TT)
0! 25000 -
sv)
20000 -
a)
U
C
15000 -
a)
g 10000 -
w
5000 -
p
2400 2600 2800
' 3000
' 3200 3400
' 3600
' 3800
' 4000
'
111.1111i
16000
C
-NM
0.0010
S 1400 -
v 0.0008
1A
L3
p 0.0008
10000 -
-g 0.0004 Nc
w
4)
ti 0.0002 Ó 6000
o
0.0000
ó 4000
-0.0002 2000 -
c
d
0.0004
500 1000 1500 2000 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ES
(a) Fluorescence intensity real time (b) Relationship between fluorescence intensity and FITC concentration
Figure 10. Fluorescence intensity of FITC with concentration from 10 ng/mL to 10 μg/mL
4. CONCLUSIONS
A portable and modularized fluorometer based on optical fiber has been proposed in this work. The fluorometer adopted
LEDs as light source and the LEDs were driven by a constant current source to provide stable exciting light with
different wavelength. The OCM included a modularized optical filter and used a photomultiplier tube (PMT) to detect
fluorescence signal. Via modularized design, the LSM and OCM could both selected and replaced based on different
fluorescence dyes. In order to improve the detecting dynamic range of the fluorometer, the SAM could control the light
intensity of LED source in LSM, to control the gain of PMT in OCM, and particularly, four channel signal acquisition
circuits with different gain were constructed to collect fluorescence signal simultaneously. Fluorescein isothiocyanate
(FITC) was selected as sample to test the performance of the fluorometer. The fluorometer has shown a high sensitivity
with FITC concentration of 10ng/mL and presented a good linearity from 10 ng/mL to 10 μg/mL. These results have
shown that the portable and modularized fluorometer designed in this work have good potential in fluorescence analysis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research project was jointly supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong (Grant No. ZR2012FQ015),
the College Independent Innovation Plan of Jinan (Grant No. 201401236) and the National Training Programs of
Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (Grant No.201410445048).
REFERENCES
[1] Pan, D., Mao, Z., “Fluorescence measured using a field-portable laser fluorometer as a proxy for CDOM
absorption,” Estuar Coast Shelf S 146(5), 33-41 (2014).
[2] P. Lambert, M. Goldthorp, B. Fieldhouse,Z.Wang,M. Fingas, L. Pearson, E. Collazzi, “Field fluorometers as
dispersed oil-in-water monitors,” J Hazard Mater 102(1), 57-79(2003).