Analysis and testing of a suitable compatible electrode's material for continuous measurement of glucose concentration

Abstract

The subject of the submitted work is the proposal of electrodes for the continual measurement of the glucose concentration for the purpose of specifying further hemodynamic parameters. The proposal includes the design of the electronic measuring system, the construction of the electrodes themselves and the functionality of the entire system, verified experimentally using various electrode materials. The proposed circuit works on the basis of micro-ammeter measuring the size of the flowing electric current and the electrochemical measurement method is used for specifying the glucose concentration. The electrode system is comprised of two electrodes embedded in a silicon tube. The solution consists of the measurement with three types of materials, which are verified by using three solutions with a precisely given concentration of glucose in the form of a mixed solution and enzyme glucose oxidase. For the testing of the proposed circuit and the selection of a suitable material, the testing did not take place on measurements in whole blood. For the construction of the electrodes, the three most frequently used materials for the construction of electrodes used in clinical practice for sensing biopotentials, specifically the materials Ag/AgCl, Cu and Au, were used. The performed experiments showed that the material Ag/AgCl, which had the greatest sensitivity for the measurement even without the enzyme, was the most suitable material for the electrode. This conclusion is supported by the performed statistical analysis. On the basis of the testing, we can come to the conclusion that even if the Ag/AgCl electrode appears to be the most suitable, showing high stability, gold-plated electrodes showed stability throughout the measurement similarly to Ag/AgCl electrodes, but did not achieve the same qualities in sensitivity and readability of the measured results.