An improved optical sensor and method for measuring concentration of a chemical
constituent where measurement interference from other chemical compounds is present
in the solution is provided. More specifically, the invention relates to a system
for measuring the amount of creatinine in effluent dialysate during, before, or
following a kidney dialysis procedure and a method for using the same. Alternatively,
the method may be used with blood and other body fluids or solutions that contact
the patient. The system may use an enzyme or other chemical process to specifically
remove or convert an analyte with an intrinsic optical absorbance. By measuring
the absorbance before and after the chemical process the analyte can be measured
with high accuracy and specificity. The method may be extended to multiple analyte
measurements using cascaded chemical processes.