Oxygen measurements via phosphorescence

Accurate measurements of dissolved O₂ as a function of time have numerous chemical and biological applications. The Pd (II) complex of meso-tetra-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-tetrabenzoporphyrin (Pd phosphor) was used for this purpose. Detection is based on the principle that the phosphorescence of this oxygen probe is inversely related to dissolved O₂ (O₂ quenches the phosphorescence). Biologic samples containing the Pd phosphor were flashed (10/s) with a peak output of 625nm; emitted light was detected at 800nm. Amplified pulses of phosphorescence were digitized at 1-2MHz using an analog/digital converter (PCI-DAS 4020/12 I/O Board) with outputs ranging from 1 to 20MHz. Assessment revealed a customized program was necessary. Pulses were captured using a developed software at 0.1-4MHz, depending on the speed of the computer. O₂ concentration was calculated by fitting to an exponential the decay of the phosphorescence. Twelve tasks were identified, which allowed full control and customization of the data acquisition, storage and analysis. The program used Microsoft Visual Basic 6 (VB6), Microsoft Access Database 2007, and a Universal Library component that allowed direct reading from the PCI-DAS 4020/12 I/O Board. It involved a relational database design to store experiments, pulses and pulse metadata, including phosphorescence decay rates. The method permitted reliable measurements of cellular O₂ consumption over several hours.