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Chapter 1: Technology
The principle of operation for the O3 Regional Oximeter System (O3 System) is as follows:
Overview
The O3 System’s operating principle is based on multi-distance diffuse reflectance
spectroscopy. The O3 System uses light to examine a cross-section tissue microvasculature (a
mixed bed of arterioles, capillaries, and venules) and analyzes the light returned after having
passed through the tissues.
Principles of Beer-Lambert Law and Regional Oximetry
The Beer-Lambert Law describes the attenuation of light through a medium as a function of
the path length (or distance) and the absorption coefficient of the medium. The
Beer-Lambert Law may be written as:
In the above equation, I
o
is light intensity at the source, and I is light intensity after having
traveled a distance of Δ in a medium with an absorption coefficient of µa.