An apparatus for the measurement of at least one analyte in the blood of a
patient, which includes a light source generating broadband light and a
light-transmission arrangement having a plurality of transmitting fibers
is positioned for simultaneously transmitting multiple wavelengths of the
broadband light from the light source to the blood of the patient. The
measurement apparatus further includes an optical fiber arrangement
having a plurality of light detector fibers for leading multi-wavelength
light, in spectrally unseparated form, transmitted through, or reflected
from, the blood and a light detection arrangement for receiving the
multi-wavelength light in its spectrally unseparated form from the
optical fiber arrangement, for spectrally decomposing the received light,
and for determining amplitudes of selected wavelengths of the decomposed
light. The measurement apparatus utilizes a non-pulsatile element of the
patient's blood for determining the measurement of at least one analyte
in the blood as a function of the amplitudes of the selected wavelengths.