Continuous monitoring of WBC (biochemistry) in an adult leukemia patient using advanced FTIR-spectroscopy.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)-spectroscopy has been found useful for monitoring the effectiveness of drugs during chemotherapy in leukemia patients. In the present work, spectral changes that occurred in the white blood cells (WBC) of an adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patient and their possible utilization for monitoring biochemistry of WBC were investigated. The phosphate absorbance from nucleic acids and the lipid-protein ratio in the WBC decreased immediately after treatment and then increased to levels of a control group. Similar observations were recorded in child patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who were used as test cases. These parameters maybe used as possible markers to indicate successful remission and suggest that FTIR-spectroscopy may provide a rapid optical method for continuous monitoring or evaluation of a WBC population.