Analysis and Exploration of Heme Groups Using ATR-FTIR for Future Health Monitoring

We are exploring the use of different optical regions in the Mid-infrared (Mid-IR) that can be used to develop future point of care tools and methodologies. This research will allow us to establish new methods to monitor proxies for health within blood samples. Mid-IR spectra of heme groups were studied by FTIR analysis to find spectral signatures can be exploited to quantify the redox state of haemoglobin as a function of its concentration. We performed Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy (ATR) using heme groups. We found spectral differences between HbMet and Hb/HbO2 in the regions 3000-3600, 2000-2100 and 1300 cm-1. Mid-IR has the potential to expand the optical tools in medical monitoring and diagnosis for future non-invasive characterization systems. This could open a window of opportunity to understand proxies for disease and health in blood