APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE CONCENTRATION OF ELECTROLYTES

摘要

Apparatus for measuring electrolyte concentrations in fluid samples is provided. The apparatus includes an ion selective electrode having a plurality of ion selective detection sites. Each site has an affinity for a preselected electrolyte of interest and generates a potential having a magnitude related to the concentration of the corresponding electrolyte in the sample. A voltage to optical transducer circuit is provided to convert the voltage differentials to optical signals having intensity related to the concentration of the electrolytes in a first embodiment, a digital code related to the concentration of the electrolytes in a second embodiment, and an optical absorption or density value related to the concentration of the electrolytes in a third embodiment. The optical signals are suitable for detection by conventional optical detector apparatus of assay instruments and may be processed using conventional two point linear interpolation techniques to determine the concentrations of the preselected electrolytes.