How light technology is changing medicine - Sajan Saini
596,707 Views
3,319 Questions Answered
TEDEd Animation
Let’s Begin…
It’s an increasingly common sight in hospitals around the world: a nurse measures our height, weight, blood pressure, and attaches a glowing plastic clip to our finger. Suddenly, a digital screen reads out the oxygen level in our bloodstream. How did that happen? Sajan Saini shows how pairing light with integrated photonics is leading to new medical technologies and less invasive diagnostic tools.
Why would the chemical fingerprint of a sample, which is related to its absorbance (how much light is absorbed over a given distance) help to eliminate the blood vessel size effect? How might the measured absorbance depend on the absorption ability of oxygenated or oxygen-free hemoglobin (at a given wavelength), on their respective concentrations, and on blood vessel size? How could measurements at two wavelengths of light (red, infrared) help eliminate the size effect? Can you think of other technology examples where more than one measurement helps to eliminate such extrinsic effects?
Sign in to answer questionAbout TED-Ed Animations
TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »
Meet The Creators
- Educator Sajan Saini
- Director Igor Coric
- Narrator Addison Anderson
- Animator Nemanja Petrovic
- Sound Designer Nemanja Petrovic
- Producer Milica Lapcevic
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
- Associate Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Fact-Checker Eden Girma
