Nitrite detection using plastic optical fiber (POF); an early stage investigation towards the development of oral cancer sensor using POF

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) has a higher chance of survival rate if being detected at an early stage. Overconsumption of nitrite in human body may result in OSCC formation. Nitrite and nitrate is a part of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in saliva and is found to have higher percentage in OSCC patients’ saliva, thus chosen to be investigated as a potential OSCC biomarker using plastic optical fiber (POF) with evanescent wave sensing method. The experiment is done using UV/vis light source and the peak absorbance is found to be approximately 540 nm. The sensor displays moderate sensitivity with higher sensitivity towards lower end of the concentration.