Existing techniques for measuring the vitality of tissue in hospitals suffer from low temporal resolution, high cost and the undesirable removal of blood samples from patients. Clinicians have expressed their desire for a continuous method of measuring important substrates (e.g. O2 and pH) in real-time in peripheral tissue during surgical procedures and intensive care monitoring. The principle objective of this project is to validate the ability of micro electrochemical sensors to measure real-time changes of O2 and pH in both preclinical and clinical tissue. Initially an in vivo characterisation of previously developed O2 and pH sensors will be undertaken in the hind limb of anaesthetised rats to confirm their ability to measure changes in peripheral tissue. Once validation has been achieved a comparative investigation will be carried out against commercially available O2 and pH sensors to demonstrate efficacy. Subsequent to the preclinical characterisation both O2 and pH sensors will be deployed in respective proof of concept studies at Galway Clinic and St Vincent’s hospitals under the guidance of clinical experts. A small cohort of patients presenting for a surgical procedure will be recruited for participation in the studies. This clinical investigation will demonstrate for the first time the efficacy of both sensors for continuously measuring dynamic changes in O2 and pH in human tissue. These proof of concept studies are a prerequisite before the technology can achieve clinical adoption into surgical practice and intensive care monitoring.
