Design of exposed-core fiber for methadone monitoring in biological fluids

In this paper, the design of a silica exposed-core fiber sensor for methadone detection in water is reported. The sensor feasibility is numerically investigated using a Finite Element Method (FEM) numerical code. The simulation results have evaluated the fiber cross sections that incorporate a polymeric cladding as a sensitive layer as a means of enhancing the evanescent field interaction with the polymeric layer permeated by the analyte. In addition to the proposed biomedical sensor, a similar sensing configuration is proposed and modeled for environment pollution. Lead silicate glass (F2) is considered in the simulation as an alternative to silica glass and different contaminants (benzene, toluene etc.) are taken into account to evaluate the sensor suitability for use in environment monitoring.