Abstract-Monitoring Theophylline Concentrations in Saline Using Terahertz ATR Spectroscopy

Kei Takeya 1,* , Keita Muto 1

, Yasuhiro Ishihara 2

 and Kodo Kawase 1

1 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8603, Japan2 Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8521, Japan

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Christoph Peter Hauri

http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/6/3/72

To assess the possibility of terahertz technology for the determination of drug concentration in blood, we endeavored to apply a terahertz (THz) attenuated total reflection (ATR) method to measure the levels of theophylline in saline. A change in reflected THz wave amplitude was observed in a theophylline concentration-dependent manner. This result was obtained with simple measurements of comparisons of the amplitude of the reflected wave, and suggests that it is possible to monitor concentration changes of drugs in liquid material using THz ATR measurements.