Optical Flow Sensor for Lung Surfactant Delivery

Respiratory distress syndrome is a major cause of death of preterm newborns. This is due to the absence of lung surfactant. Non-invasive medical cares are in development, which need to know in real time the flow of surfactant instilled in the newborn. This work proposes the use of an optical flow sensor based on self-mixing interferometry. A dedicated prototype is realized for measuring surfactant flow rate in a small diameter duct, and its performances are evaluated.