Abstract: Beginning with a sheet of optically transparent material, one may fabricate a great many shaped optical wafers, each in the form of a thin and essentially flat piece of optical material having a narrow cross-sectional width relative to length, and a sharply narrowed tip at one end. The fabrication process involves passing a sheet of optically transparent material through one or more operational steps wherein cutting, shearing, embossing, microperforating, or a combination thereof is performed. The fabrication process may further include a cladding operation, a tip texturing operation, and an analyte-reactive reagent deposition operation. The completed optical wafers are separated and each may be mounted into a user-operated device along with systems for educing a fluid sample to be expressed from a living organism, for bringing the tip of the optical wafer into contact with the fluid sample, and for illuminating and assaying the fluid sample.

Abstract: Beginning with a sheet of optically transparent material, one may fabricate a great many shaped optical wafers, each in the form of a thin and essentially flat piece of optical material having a narrow cross-sectional width relative to length, and a sharply narrowed tip at one end. The fabrication process involves passing a sheet of optically transparent material through one or more operational steps wherein cutting, shearing, embossing, microperforating, or a combination thereof is performed. The fabrication process may further include a cladding operation, a tip texturing operation, and an analyte-reactive reagent deposition operation. The completed optical wafers are separated and each may be mounted into a user-operated device along with systems for educing a fluid sample to be expressed from a living organism, for bringing the tip of the optical wafer into contact with the fluid sample, and for illuminating and assaying the fluid sample.

Abstract: Beginning with a sheet of optically transparent material, one may fabricate a great many shaped optical wafers, each in the form of a thin and essentially flat piece of optical material having a narrow cross-sectional width relative to length, and a sharply narrowed tip at one end. The fabrication process involves passing a sheet of optically transparent material through one or more operational steps wherein cutting, shearing, embossing, microperforating, or a combination thereof is performed. The fabrication process may further include a cladding operation, a tip texturing operation, and an analyte-reactive reagent deposition operation. The completed optical wafers are separated and each may be mounted into a user-operated device along with systems for educing a fluid sample to be expressed from a living organism, for bringing the tip of the optical wafer into contact with the fluid sample, and for illuminating and assaying the fluid sample.

Abstract: Beginning with a sheet of optically transparent material, one may fabricate a great many shaped optical wafers, each in the form of a thin and essentially flat piece of optical material having a narrow cross-sectional width relative to length, and a sharply narrowed tip at one end. The fabrication process involves passing a sheet of optically transparent material through one or more operational steps wherein cutting, shearing, embossing, microperforating, or a combination thereof is performed. The fabrication process may further include a cladding operation, a tip texturing operation, and an analyte-reactive reagent deposition operation. The completed optical wafers are separated and each may be mounted into a user-operated device along with systems for educing a fluid sample to be expressed from a living organism, for bringing the tip of the optical wafer into contact with the fluid sample, and for illuminating and assaying the fluid sample.

Abstract: A nonhemolytic sensor for determination of analytes in erythrocyte-containing biological fluids is disclosed that comprises an optical material having a deposit on a surface thereof, where this deposit includes an analyte-reactive reagent and a particulate means for suppressing hemolysis of erythrocytes in an erythrocyte-containing biological fluid, such as whole blood. Thus, a porous array of negatively charged particles, e.g., polymeric beads having a plurality of carboxylate surface groups, are disposed on a sampling surface of an optical sensor, and suppress hemolysis of erythrocytes coming into contact with the sampling surface. In the case of an optical sensor, such particles can simultaneously enhance reflectance of a light beam transmitted through the optical material to the sampling surface site.