Conventional methods for measuring the concentration of deuterium in body fluids are by either isotope ratio mass spectrometry or Fourier transformed infra-red transmission (FTIR) spectroscopy. The latter method is often preferred as it is less expensive and time consuming; however, having a lower sensitivity means a larger sample volume is required. This study investigated an alternative FTIR spectroscopic method, attenuated total reflection Fourier transformed infra-red spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), which has the potential to provide shorter analysis times while requiring smaller sample volumes.

Deuterium was assayed by ATR-FTIR in plasma in the concentration range 0.5 to 2.5 mg mL-1, typical of those observed in tracer dilution measurements of total body water.

Minimal sample preparation was required and analysis time was substantially decreased compared to transmission FTIR. Samples were analysed with high precision (CV < 0.5 %). Precision of assay was maintained when assaying plasma volumes of only 10 L. The application of the method to the determination of total body water in humans and animals (horses) was demonstrated.

A rapid and simple method for the measurement of deuterium in plasma is described that only requires very small sample volumes, rendering the method suitable for use in paediatrics where blood sampling is required to be kept to a minimum.

测量体液中氘浓度的常规方法是同位素比质谱法或傅里叶变换红外透射 (FTIR) 光谱法。后一种方法通常是首选，因为它既便宜又耗时；然而，具有较低的灵敏度意味着需要更大的样本量。本研究调查了另一种 FTIR 光谱方法，即衰减全反射傅立叶变换红外光谱 (ATR-FTIR)，它有可能提供更短的分析时间，同时需要更小的样品量。

通过 ATR-FTIR 测定血浆中的氘，浓度范围为 0.5 至 2.5 mg mL-1，这是在全身水的示踪稀释测量中观察到的典型浓度。

与透射 FTIR 相比，需要最少的样品制备并且分析时间显着减少。以高精度 (CV < 0.5 %) 分析样品。当测定血浆体积仅为 10 ??L 时，测定精度得以保持。证明了该方法在测定人和动物（马）体内总水分中的应用。

描述了一种用于测量血浆中氘的快速而简单的方法，该方法只需要非常小的样本量，使得该方法适用于需要将血液采样保持在最低限度的儿科。