Near Infrared and Aquaphotomic analysis of water absorption in lactate containing media

Increased concentrations of lactate levels in blood are often seen in patients with life-threatening cellular hypoperfusion or infections. State-of-the-art techniques used in clinical practice for measuring serum lactate concentrations rely on intermittent blood sampling and do not permit continuous monitoring of this all important parameter in critical care environments. In recent years, Near Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy has been established as a possible alternative to existing methods that can mitigate these constraints and be used for non-invasive continuous monitoring of lactate. Nevertheless, the dominant absorption of -OH overtone bands of water in the NIR presents a challenge and complicates the accurate detection of other absorbers such as lactate. For this reason, comprehensive analysis of the -OH overtone bands with systematic lactate concentration changes is essential. This paper reports on the analysis of NIR spectra of two aqueous systems of varying concentrations of lactate in saline and whole blood using the principles of Aquaphotomics. The results show distinctive conformational and structural differences in lactate-water binding, which arise due to the molecular interactions of bonds present in respective solvents.