INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF BIOMEDICAL SPECIMENS USING GLASS SUBSTRATES

We report on the use of glass substrates for the infrared spectroscopi c analysis of dried serum, amniotic fluid, and synovial fluid films. N ew analytical applications of infrared spectroscopy are emerging rapid ly, spurred largely by ever-improving instrumentation, combined with t he widespread availability of powerful chemometric methods. We have re cently begun to focus upon potential applications in both clinical che mistry and medical diagnostics. For example, serum analysis, the deter mination of fetal lung maturity, and the differential diagnosis of art hritis have all recently been demonstrated to be feasible on the basis of the infrared spectra of films dried from the appropriate samples ( serum, amniotic fluid, or synovial fluid). However, the transition fro m the laboratory into clinical usage hinges on the availability of IR- transparent substrates that are both inexpensive and readily obtainabl e, We have demonstrated in this study that despite limited transparenc y in the IR region, clinical analyses and diagnostic spectral classifi cations may nevertheless be carried out using glass as a substrate for the IR measurements. (C) 1998 Academic Press.