Enzymatic Glucose Sensor Compensation for Variations in Ambient Oxygen Concentration.

Due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes, research toward painless glucose sensing continues. Oxygen sensitive phosphors with glucose oxidase (GOx) can be used to determine glucose levels indirectly by monitoring oxygen consumption. This is an attractive combination because of its speed and specificity. Packaging these molecules together in "smart materials" for implantation will enable non-invasive glucose monitoring. As glucose levels increase, oxygen levels decrease; consequently, the luminescence intensity and lifetime of the phosphor increase. Although the response of the sensor is dependent on glucose concentration, the ambient oxygen concentration also plays a key role. This could lead to inaccurate glucose readings and increase the risk of hyper- or hypoglycemia. To mitigate this risk, the dependence of hydrogel glucose sensor response on oxygen levels was investigated and compensation methods explored. Sensors were calibrated at different oxygen concentrations using a single generic logistic equation, such that trends in oxygen-dependence were determined as varying parameters in the equation. Each parameter was found to be a function of oxygen concentration, such that the correct glucose calibration equation can be calculated if the oxygen level is known. Accuracy of compensation will be determined by developing an overall calibration, using both glucose and oxygen sensors in parallel, correcting for oxygen fluctuations in real time by intentionally varying oxygen, and calculating the error in actual and predicted glucose levels. While this method was developed for compensation of enzymatic glucose sensors, in principle it can also be implemented with other kinds of sensors utilizing oxidases.