Since the maintenance of the appropriate levels of oxygen is essential for ensuring the success of many fo the specialized experiments in space missions, such as tissue culture experiments, the continuous monitoring of partial pressures of oxygen provides important data. We are developing optical methods of monitoring not only oxygen but also many dissolkved constituents in blood and tissue culture solutions. The optical system uses tiny optical fibers, which easily its inside a fine-gauged needle, for monitorng each specimen. Moreover, the beam can be split so that multiple specimens can be monitored simultaneously. The same optical technology can also be used for monitoring the blood chemistry fo humans and animals; it is minimally invasive. It has a medical application for measuring tissue partial pressures of oxgen.
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