Fixed optic sensor system and distributed sensor network

An optically aligned sensor system for detecting the presence of one or sample analyte properties comprising:

• a miniaturized integrated sensor enclosed in a light transmissive housing having at least one surface in contact with said analyte and at least one light source and one detector fixed within said housing;
• an electronic sub-system communicably interfaced to said sensor for receiving and transmitting sample related data, said sub-system having an on-board signal processor, static memory area containing a plurality of application specific program segments, a dynamic memory area, a display and a user interface;
• and
• a communications sub-system coupling said sensor to said electronic sub-system.

A method of detecting a sample analyte using a fixed optic sensor system comprising a sensor sub-system that communicates with an electronic sub-system via a wireless communications, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the sample in contact with the sensor sub-system;
• directing light towards the interface between the sample and the sensor;
• measuring the intensity of the light emerging from the interface between the sample and the sensor to produce an analog signal relating to the concentration of the sample;
• converting the analog signal to a corresponding digital bitstream sequence;
• transmitting the bitstream sequence to the electronic sub-system for further processing;
• processing the sequence to obtain analytical information about the sample to obtain sample analyte results;
• and
• displaying the results on an on-board display of the electronic sub-system.