FIBER OPTICS HELPING WITH PREGNANCY TESTS

In an earlier post, we discussed the virtue of “going optic” and how America should be rewired, so to speak, with fiber optics – and while we focused primarily on Internet speeds, we would do you a grave disservice if we didn’t talk about all the other exciting developments going on in the world of fiber optics, most notably regarding pregnancy and ailments.

 

10769396_SAccording to this Medical Daily article, fiber optics might make it possible for smartphones to detect pregnancy and monitor diabetes. We have come a long, long way from the Stone Age – that’s for sure – like we’re riding a train made of fiber optics and bulleting into the future. You see, smartphones are on their way to reading biomolecular tests, such as pregnancy tests, thanks to developing research from Hanover Centre for Optical Technologies in Germany.

 

The brains behind this project, Kort Bremer and Bernhard Roth, say, “We have the potential to develop small and robust lab-on-a-chip devices for smartphones. So, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors could become ubiquitous now. SPR is what affords “real-time, label-free detection of biomolecular interactions…when polarized light strikes an electrically conducting surface at the interface between two media.”

 

In other words, they are developing a self-contained sensor that will be able to operate within an app. If development takes off, this sensor will assist app users with blood, urine, saliva, sweat, breath, and more. This seems straight out of science fiction, doesn’t it? It’s happening though, which shows just how powerful fiber optics can be.

 

We have cool developments with fiber optics in terms of the medical industry. This all might be speeded up if this fiber optic evolution completes its course. An engineering breakthrough by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, has the potential to double the speed of fiber optic networks.

 

PowerlinesAs reported in this CIO Today article, “The discovery at UC San Diego would potentially allow optical signals to be transmitted with far greater energy without suffering from the same level of distortion. That, in turn, would mean fewer signal repeaters would be required. The researchers were able to transmit a signal 12,000 kilometers without using repeaters and successfully decode it – a new record. “

 

At Connected Fiber, we are more than thrilled with this discovery as it could change the face of fiber optics as we know it, but also all the industries that depend on fiber optics. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.