CA1127240A

CA1127240A - Method for determining the concentration of sugar and electrocatalytic sugar sensor suitable therefor

Info

Publication number: CA1127240A
Application number: CA325,908A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Gerhard Richter; Gunter Luft; Ulrich Gebhardt
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens AG
Priority date: 1978-04-20
Filing date: 1979-04-19
Publication date: 1982-07-06
Also published as: FR2423778B1; SE7903393L; GB2019580A; GB2019580B; SE439378B; FR2423778A1; DE2817363C2; DE2817363A1; US4366033A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A method for determining the concentration of sugar in the presence of interfering foreign substances, particularly for determining glucose in a body fluid, by means of an electro-catalytic sugar sensor which has a measuring electrode in which the measuring electrode is alternatingly set potentiostatically to a reactivation and a measuring potential and the current flow-ing during the measuring period is evaluated as the measurement signal. To prevent foreign substances from exerting an interfer-ing influence and thereby permit a sensitive sugar determination which is reliable over an extended period of time, a hydrophilic diaphragm is arranged in front of the measuring electrode to impede the resupply of the interfering foreign substances to the measuring electrode so that a diffusion limit current adjusts itself during the reactivation phase in the oxidation of the foreign substances; and the current is evaluated with a time delay relative to the start of the measuring period.

Description

Background of the In~ention This lnvention rela-tes to the determination of the concentration of sugar in the presence of in-terferiny foreign substances, especially determination of glucose in a body fluid, in general, and more part:icularly to a method usiny an electro-catalytic sugar sensor comprising a measuring electrode, wherein the potential of the measuring electro~e is alternatingly set to a reactivation and a measuring potential and the current flowing during the measuring period is evaluated as the measurement signal, as well as to an electrocatalytic sugar sensor for implementing this method.
The determination of the sugar concentration in a body fluid, especially the blood of a pa-tient, is important, for instance, in the case of diabetics, since it is important for a diabetic that the normal blood glucose level be kept constant through the day. The blood glucose level can be influenced by the diet, by insulin injections and by motion therapy. It is essential in this connection that over or under compensation of the sugar content of the blood be avoided. For -the patient himself it is important to know the prevailing blood sugar content, so that he can take suitable measures for controlling it if necessary.
Regulation of the glucose concentration automatically by means of a so-called artificial beta-cell has also been con-sidered by controlling the insulin supply to the blood via a glucose sensor wherein lnsulin is always supplied to the blood, if desired, porportionally to a glucose reference value, when ~7~

the glucose reference value is exceeded.
~ leretofore, the glucose in -the blood has generally been determined externally in a clinical laboratory by photometric means. However, electrochemical sensors are ~lso knowrl w~l:ich make it possible to determine the ylucose in the body Eluid. In a so-called enzyme sensor, the glucose is oxidiæed to gluconic acid by means of glucose oxidase, wherein oxygen is consumed and hydrogen peroxide is formed. The oxygen consumption and the formation of hydrogen peroxide can be measured electrochemically, and a signal is thus obtained which is related to the glucose concentration~ Since the enzyme sensor operates selectively and does not respond to foreign substances, it is possible to make a reproducible glucose determination, but it is not suitable for long term implantation because the enzymes, like all other pro-teins, decay under physiological conditions in the course of time;
i.e., they are not stable over the long term under body conditions.
An electrocatalytic glucose sensor is known, for instance, from British Patent Specification l,422,1720 However, this sensor also is not stable over the long term if it is operated with potential control. With current controlled operation, on the other hand, the sensitivity is lower than de-sired.
While intermittent measurements have been possible heretofore with electrocatalytic glucose sensors, especially xelative measurements (see in this connection: "Trans. Amer.

Soc. Artif. Int. Organs", vol~ XIX, 1973~ pages 352 to 360) interference with the measurement signal still always takes place due to coreactants. For, impurities and accompanying substances can then either be oxidized at the measuring electrode and there~
by falsify the measurement signal, or can limit the acti~1ky o~
the measuring electrode due to blocking. In the case of implant-able sensors, furthermore, components of the body fluid, especially urea and amino acids, have been found to have an inter-fering effect, as they thwart a reproducible long-term measure-ment.
This applies in essence also to an implantable electro-catalytic glucose sensor which is described in the journal "Biomed. Technik", 22 (1977), pages 399 and ~00. This sensor, which comprises a measuring electrode, counter electrode and reference electrode, is operated in accordance with the so-called voltage-jump method, i.e., a measuring and a reactivation poten-tial are impressed alternatingly on the measuring electrode~
During the measuring time, the current is integrated and at -the end of the measuring time, this integral represents the measure-ment value.
Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to develop a method for determining the concentration of sugar of the kind mentioned at the outset in which a reactivation and a measuring potential are alternatingly impressed on the measuring electrode and the current flowing during the measuring period is evaluated as the measurement signal, in such a way that a sugar determin-. ,~
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ation which is sensiti~e and reliable over a long period of time is possible, even in body fluids.
According to the present invention, this is achieved by the provision that, through a diaphragm in front of -the measur-ing electrode, the supply o the interfering foreign ~u~tancieiC~
to the measuring electrode is impeded to such an extent tha-t, in the reactivation phase, a diffusion limit current appears duriny the oxidation of the foreign substances, and that the evaluation of the current is made with a time delay relative to the start of the measuring period.
By means of the method according to the present invention, it is possible to make a reproducible long term measurement of the sugar content even in heavily "contaminated"
liquids such as, for instance, body fluids, as the interference caused by foreign substances is eliminated.
The foreign and interference substances present in body fluids are generally more difficult to oxidize than glucose;
easily oxidized substances such as cystein, occur only in very low concentrations. In principle, it would therefore be possible to determine glucose under mild oxidation conditions, if no blocking of the catalyst surface took place due to other, firmly adhering accompanying substances. With the method according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate this blocking by oxidizing, on the one hand, the measuring electrode at a strongly anodic potential, i.e., at a potential above 800 mV
(measured against the reversible hydrogen electrode~, and on the other hand, at the same time placing a tight diaphragm which -.

inhibits a resupply of the substances having a blocking effect in front of the measuring electrode~ Since, with such a procedure, the electrode surface is continuously cleaned by anodic oxidation of the blocking adsorption products (reactivation ph,~se), Lony term operation can be guaranteed wi-th the method according to -the present invention. At the same time, a diffusion limitation of the glucose is ensured, so that the measurement signal is inde-pendent of the activity of the measuring electrode.
In the method according to the present invention, the measurement itse]f then takes place, after a potential jump, a-t a lower potential, for ins-tance, at 400 mV, i.e., at a potential at which most amino acids are not oxidized, so that no appreciable disturbance of the glucose measurement signal occurs. If, on the other hand, the measurement were to take place at the strongly anodic potential of the reactivation phase, then a faulty measure-ment result would always be obtained, because of the simultaneous oxidation of glucose and the accompanying substances, if the con-centration of the accompanying substance varies. Therefore, the measuring potential is separated from the reactivation potential.
In order to obtain high sensitivity in the sugar determination, the measurement signal, in addition, is not evaluated starting immediately when the potential is switched, but only after a delay, i.e., at a time when the large capaci-tive currents which do not depend on the sugar concentration, have decayed.
In the method according to the present in~ention, the reaction charge is preferably determined, i.e., the current flowing during the measurement period is integrated (with the :
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corresponding time delay). The integration is advantaqeously started after a delay o~ up to 10 sec. and preferably, after sec. The measuremen-t itself is advantayeously perormed at a potential between 100 and 800 mV, referred to a reversible hydrogen electrode in the same solution. Slnce the potential is chosen so that, while oxidation of the glucose take~ place, oxidation of the accompanying interfering substances does not, the measurement is preferably carried out at a potential of about 400 mV. The measurement is preferably carried out in a time of less than 1 min. Advantageously, the measuring period and the reactivation phase are chosen of equal length.
In order to obtain complete reactivation of the measuring electrode it is necessary to adapt the permeability of the diaphragm in front of the measuring electrode to the activity and the potential of the electrode in such a manner that the latter is in a condition to completely oxidize all arriving interfering substances during the reactivation potential. This means that a diffusion limit current is set with respect to the interfering substances.
It does not make sense to increase the activity of the electrode beyond a certain measure, since greater activity brings about a greater thickness of the active layer and there-with causes a time delay, and, in addition, enters strongly into the energy consumption of the system. It is also not possible to increase the electrode potential arbitrarily because oxygen starts to develop above a certain potential and the sugar sensor becomes useless as soon as gas collects between the electrode and the diaphrag~. In the method according to the present invention, the reactivation is therefore performed ~dvantageously at a poten-tial of more than 800 mV; the reactivation poten-tial i.s preferentially > 1500 mV. The permissible value also depends on the duration oE the reactivation. Thus, gas development still does not take place even at 1600 mV within a period oE about 25 sec, a period in which the measurement as well as the reactiv-ation are carried out preferentially.
In an electrocatalytic sugar sensor for carrying out the method according to the present invention, which comprises a measuring electrode, a counter electrode and a reference elec-trode, a hydrophilic diaphragm is arranged in front of the active surface of the measuring electrode. The permeability and the thickness of the diaphragm in front depend on the desired dif~
fusion limitation of the measurement signa~ and on the desired measuring time. The time constant of the sugar sensor depends on these variables: It is determined by ~ = 0.167 d~/D; d being the thickness of the diaphragm and D the di~fusion coefficient.
In order to ensure the diffusion limitation, a diffusion co-efficient as small as possible is desired, i.e., a diffusioncoefficient smaller than lO cm sec l, where the lower limit is predetermined by the technical data of the current measurement.
At the same time, in order to ensure the required time constant (it should be less than lO min), the ~m hragm should be less than lO0 ~m thick.
To prepare diaphragms o such low permeability as has been set forth above, one can advantageously start out with : ' z~

plastics such as polyethylene and silicone, which form relatively hydrophobic Eoils and have been made hydrophilic by suitable measures, especially radiation grafting with acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or chlorosulfonic acid, i.e., by radiatlon chem~
ical graft polymerization. The diaphragm used in the electro-catalytic glucose sensor accordincJ to the present invention pre-ferably consists of hydrophilized polytetrafluoro ethylene.
The diaphragm can be arranged in front of the active surface of the measuring electrode in such a manner that the latter is covered with a prefabricated diaphragm. However, since such a procedure is technically disadvantageous, the diaphragm is advantageously prepared directly on the active surface of the measuring electrode, and specifically, from a solution. This procedure can be used particularly if a hydro-phobic polymer is dissolved in a solvent together with a hydrophilic, water-insoluble polymer and is applied to the electrode surface by an immersion method. Through evaporation of the solvent, the solution dries up and a well adhering foil is formed on the electrode surface. In a treatment with water or physiological solution, the diaphragm is later made to swell up again, if necessary by boiling. The hydrophobic polymer is advantageously contained in excess in the solu-tion used for the preparation of the diaphragm. A sufficiently impermeable film is obtained i-E the content of the hydrophilic polymer in the polymer solution is less than 25% and preferably less than 10%.
As the hydrophilic polymer, primarily sulfonated polytetrafluoro-ethylene is suitable, which, with anequivalent weight of less , z7~

than 1000, is soluble in ethanol, isopropanol water mi~tures and dimethylformamide. Polyacrylonitri]e and especially polyvinylidene fluoride are suitable as the hyclrophobic polymer.
The electrocatalytic sugar sensor accordiny -to th~
present invention is advantageously constructed as a single rod measuring chain, the measuring electrode, counter electrode and reference electrode being integrated in one unit. The measuring electrode and the counter electrode are preferably arranged one behind the other, only one of the electrodes being adjacent to the body fluid. This electrode, :Eacing the body fluid, is porous and is covered, toward the body fluid, by a hydrophilic diaphragm, while the other of the two electrodes is arranged in a closed space~ In this manner it is ensured that the current can advance to the second electrode.
The active layer of the measuring electrode can con-sist of a noble metal catalyst layer; preferably, it consists of an activated platinum-iron metal alloy. The catalytic layer, which optionally can be doped with metallic additions, is prefer-ably arranged on a metallic support structure (cf. German patent 24 05 475). The alloy film can be produced on the support structure advantageously by vapor deposition or by sputtering, i.e., removal of metals by electron bombardment, and subsequent precipitation. The alloy layer is activatedt iOe., the inactive iron metal component is dissolved out, preferably by potentio-static dissolution in sulfuric acid.
The counter electrode of the susar sensor according to the present invention can advantageously serve at the same - : ~
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time as the reference electrode and consist, to this end, iCor instance, of silver chloride. However, the functions of the counter electrode and the reference electrode are pre~erably separated and the counter electrode is cons-tructed as a selective oxyyen electrode. Then the counter electrode is advantayeously arranged in front of the measuring electrode, is made porous and thin and consists of carbon or silver; the thickness of the counter electrode is then advantageously less than 100 ~m an~ pre-fera~ly less than 20 ~m.
Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a cross section through a first embodiment of the electrocatalytic sugar sensor of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a similar view of a second embodiment o the present invention in which the functions of the counter electrode and reference electrode are separated.
Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of a measuring arrange-ment ~or use with the present invention.
Figures 4 and 5 are curves helpful in understanding the operation of the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Invention In Figure 1, a cross section through a rotationally symmetrical embodiment of the electrocatalytic sugar sensor according to the present invention is shown. In this embodiment the counter electrode also serves as the reference electrode.
The sugar sensor 10 contains, for this purpose, a counter electrode 11 in the form of a consumable silver chloride electrode. Since the silver chloride electrode 11 has constant ;:

potential, it can serve at the same time as the reference electrode. The current lead 12 to the counter elec~rode 11 has an insulating jacket 13. The measuring electrode 1~ o~ the suyar sensor 10 is separated ~rom the counter elec~rode or ref~rence electrode 11 by a hydrophilic diaphragm ]5, which fills the space between the measuring electrode and the counter electrode.
The measuring electrode 14, which is porous, is covered by a hydrophilic diaphragm 16 of low permeahility. The measuring electrode 14 can consist, for instance, of sintered platinum pow-der. However, a measuring electrode with an active layer ofRaney platinum which was prepared by dissolving nickel from a layer of platinum-nickel alloy vapor deposited on a substrate material can also be used. The sleeve-like lead 17 to the mea-suring electrode 14 is covered toward the outside by an insul-ating jacket 18 The insulating jacket 18 can consist, like the insulating jacket 13 between the leads 12 and 17, of an insul-ating plastic or varnish.
During the operation of the electrocatalytic sugar sensor, pH-shifts occur a-t the measuring electrode and the counter electrode in the course of the reaction. These pH-shifts can lead, in the case of an implanted sensor, to damage to the surrounding tissue. The tissue cannot stand a deviation o the pH-value very well, particularly in the alkaline direc-tion. So that the pH-shifts are made ineffective toward the outside, the measuring electrode and the counter electrode are there~ore arranged, as shown in Figure 1, one behind the other in a unit. ~Iere, the pH-shifts are equalized in the space '7~

between the measuring electrode 14 and the counter electrode 11, so that, during steady state operation, no appreciable deviation from the neutral value toward the outside ta]ses place. The diaphragm 15 which is arranged in the space bet~een the electrodes 11 and 14, can furthermore advantageously consist o ion exchanger material.
In Figure 2 an embodiment of the sugar sensor accord-ing to the present invention, in which the functions of the coun-ter electrode and the reference electrode are separated is shown in a cross section. The measuring electrode 21 of the sugar sensor 20 in this embodiment has the form of a platinum wire which is provided with an active layer 22 of the platinum black.
The active surface of the measuring electrode; i.e., the layer 22, is surrounded by a tight diaphragm 23. The measuring electrode 21 is surrounded by a tubular reference electrode 2~ of silver, which is in contact with the diaphragm 23. At the point of contact, the silver is chlorinated, i.e., changed to silver chloride. The Ag/AgCl reference electrode 24 is separated by an insulating layer 25a from the measuring electrode 21 and by an insulating layer 25b from the lead 26 for the counter electrode 27. The counter electrode 27, which adjoins the diaphragm 23, is a porous selective oxygen electrode and consists preferably of silver or carbon. Due to the fact that such a counter-electrode is not consumed, the life of the sugar sensor is not limited. The counter electrode 27 can be prepared, for instance, from a vapor deposlted silver alloy by oxidizing dissolution of the less noble component, i.e~, by the Raney process, or from a silver compound by reduction, and be provided with pores by the photoresist method. The counter electrode 27 is covered up toward the outside, i.e., toward the body fluid or the tissue, b~
a body-compatible, hydrophilic, thin, permeable diaphragm 2~, through which oxygen and glucose ~an di~Euse. ~he lead 2~ -to the counterelectrode 27, finally, is provided with an insulatiny jacket 29.
As an alternative to platinum black, the active layer 22 of the measuring electrode 21 may also consist o-f an active platinum metal which was made from an iron metal-platinum metal alloy. The alloy layer can be produced by vapor deposition or sputtering and may optionally be doped with tantalum or tungsten. The active Raney catalyst layer can be formed by potentiostatic dissolution of the iron metal in sul~
furic acid.
In Figure 3, the basic design of the measuring arrange-ment used in the method according to the invention is shown.
The measuring cell 30r i.e., the sugar sensor properl contains a measurin~ electrode 31, a counter electrode 32 and a reference electrode 33. The potential of the measuring electrode 31 is controlled by a potentiostat 34 by means of a program timer 35 in such a way that alternatively, a desired potential Ul is set as the measuring potential and a desired potential U2 as the reactivation potential. The current then flowing is evaluated by means of an integrator 36 to obtain the measurement signal.
As already mentioned, the evaluation of the measure-ment signal does not start immediately after the measuring .`

potential is switched on, but only after a time delay. For, the charge of the double-layer capacity is first reversed ancl the oxidized surface layer of the platinum elec-trode re~c~ec~.
The current then flowing has no relation -to the ylucose concen-tration. Therefore, a considerable increase in the sensitivity is obtained if the evaluation of the glucose oxidation current is started only after the initial, large capacitive current has decayed.
Example 1 A platinized platinum electrode with an activ~ area of 0.03 cm2 is polarized alternatingly to 400 and 1600 mV, a silver/silver chloride electrode serving as the reference elec-trode. The counter electrode, which likewise consists of pla-tinized platinum is separated from the measuring electrode by a diaphragm. The platini~ing is performed from a 2.5~ solution of hexachloroplatinic acid at a current density of 30 mA/cm2 for a period of 5 minutes. Thyrode solution is used as electrolyte which consists of 125 ~ol sodium chloride, 2.68 m~lol potassium chloride, 1.8 mMol calcium chloride, 1.05 m~lol magnesium chloride, 0.417 m~ol sodium dihydrogen phosphate and 12 mMol sodium hydrogen carbonate. In order to keep the partial oxygen pres-sure and the pH value of the solution constant during the test, flushing with a mixture of 95% air and 5% carbon dioxide is applied.
In Figure 4, the course of the measurement signal is shown as a function of the number of measuring periods if the glucose and amino acid concentration in the solution is changed.

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In the upper part of the figure, the glucose concentration is shown. From the shape of the measurement signal it is seen that while it depends clearly on the glucose concentration, it responds only little to a change of the amino acid content, which took place at A (smallest occurring physiolocial amino acid concen-tration), B (highest occurring physiological amino acid concen-tration) and C (one-half of the highest occurring physiologlcal amino acid concentration). Upon a change of the amino acid concentration from a mean value to 0 or to a maximum value, a devia~ion of the measurement signal of only a maximum of 5% is observed. In the present case, the measurement signal was 400 mV
and the reactivation potential 1600 mV; the measuring and the reactivation time were of equal length and were 25 sec each. The diaphragm in front of the measuring electrode was a diaphragm of polytetrafluoroethylene with sulfonic acid groups coupled-on by radiation grafting.
If the above-described test is made with a sugar sensor, in which a diaphragm of cellulose acetate is used instead of the diaphragm mentioned, a stronger influence of the amino acid con-centration of the solution is noted. As shown in Figure 5, themeasurement signal responds to a change in the amino acid con-centration (at A and B) with a change of the same order of magnitude as occurs for normal glucose concen-tration fluctuations.
The influence of the amino acid shows up even more, if the same test is made without a diaphragm in front. Also where the reactivation potential in the present case is fixed at 12Q0 mV, a strong amino acid influence is found. If the `' - ' ~ ' " ~' ; ' ;' . ' , ~ ~' .

integration is performed immediately from the start of the measuring period on, i.e., without inserting a time delay, then no dependence on the glucose concen-tration is founcl at all.
Example 2 A platinized platinum electrode correspondiny to Example 1 with an electrode area of 0.03 cm2 is coated by immersion in a solution of 6 g of sulfonated polytetrafluoro-ethylene prepared by copolymerization with an equivalent weight of 950, and 24 g polyvinylidenefluoride in 100 ml dimethyl formamide with a film which is fixed on the electrode surface by drying and absorbs water again by boiling and thereby becomes permeable for glucose. The thlckness of the diaphragm prepared in this manner is about 50 ~m and the diffusion coefficient of the glucose in this diaphragm is about 3 x 10 ~ cm2 sec . A
sugar sensor containing such a measuring electrode provides a measuring error of less than 5% if the amino acid concentra-tion in a glucose solution is changed from O to the maximum physio-logical value.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method for determining the concentration of sugar in the presence of interfering foreign substances, especially for determining glucose in a body fluid, by means of an electro-catalytic sugar sensor comprising a measuring electrode, the measuring electrode adapted to be alternatinyly set potentio-statically to a reactivation potential and a measuring potential and the current flowing during the measuring period evaluated as the measurement signal, comprising impeding the resupply of the interfering substances to the measuring electrode by a diaphragm placed in front of the measuring electrode in such a manner that a diffusion limit current adjusts itself during the reactivation phase in the oxidation of the foreign substances, and performing the evaluation of the current after a time delay relatively to the start of the measuring period.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reaction charge is determined as the measurement signal by integrating the current in the measuring period.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the integ-ration of the current is started after a delay of up to 10 sec and preferably, after about 2 sec.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the measure-ment is made at a potential between 100 and 800 mV, preferably at about 400 mV, relative to the potential of a reversible hydrogen electrode.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reactivation is performed at a potential above 800 mV and pre-ferably equal to or above 1500 mV, relative to the potential of a reversible hydrogen electrode.

6. The method according to claim l wherein the measure-ment is made in a time of less than l min.

7. The method according to claim l wherein the measur-ing period and the reactivation phase are chosen to be of about the same length.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the measure-ment and the reactivation are each executed in a time of about 25 sec.

9. An electrocatalytic sugar sensor for determining the concentration of sugar in the presence of interfering foreign substances, especially for determining glucose in a body fluid, said sensor having a measuring electrode, a counter electrode and a reference electrode, wherein the improvement comprises a hydrophilic diaphragm disposed in front of the active surface of the measuring electrode.

10. A sugar sensor according to claim 9, wherein said diaphragm has a thickness of less than l00 µm and a diffusion coefficient for glucose of less than l0- 7 cm2 sec- l.

11. A sugar sensor according to claim 9, wherein said diaphragm consists of hydrophilized polytetrafluoroethylene.

12. A sugar sensor according to claim 9, wherein said diaphragm has been prepared directly on the active surface of the measuring electrode.

13. A sugar sensor according to claim 9 wherein said measuring electrode, counter electrode and reference electrode comprise an integrated unit.

14. A sugar sensor according to claim 9 wherein said measuring electrode and said counter electrode are arranged one behind the other, only one of said electrodes being adjacent -to the body fluid; and wherein the electrode adjacent to the body fluid is porous and is covered up toward the body fluid, by a hydrophilic diaphragm; and wherein the other one of the elec-trodes is arranged in a closed space.

15. A sugar sensor according to claim 9, wherein said measuring electrode has an active layer which consists of an activated platinum metal-iron metal alloy.

16. A sugar sensor according to claim 9 wherein said counter electrode serves at the same time as the reference electrode.

17. A sugar sensor according to claim 9, wherein said counter electrode is a selective oxygen electrode.