Lack of oxygen in cells is an indicator of diseases as serious as cerebral haemorrhages, stroke and cancer. Regrettably measuring real-time oxygen concentration in living tissue is difficult with current technologies. Now a chemist has invented a compound which measures oxygen in cells and other biological material with high precision. The compound is based on rare earths emitting colored light that vary in color with the amount of oxygen present in the sample. Because emissions are in the visible range of the spectrum, it will be possible to measure oxygen using the optical microscopes already present in most hospitals.

Source: Quick, easy, early diagnosis with rare earth ions