Patent ID: 8118991

Claim:
An electrochemical detection device for detecting the activity of one or more hydrolase analyte enzymes in a liquid sample, said device comprising; at least one electrode containing an apoenzyme or otherwise inactive form of an electrochemical enzyme that, in the active form, would produce an electrochemical change in at least one of said electrodes in response to an electrochemical enzyme substrate; an apoenzyme cofactor, prosthetic group or other activation moiety that converts the inactive form of said electrochemical enzyme to an active form; said cofactor, prosthetic group or activation moiety being present in the form of at least one complex that contains at least one target substrate which is cleaved by at least one of said hydrolase analyte enzymes; said complex being incapable of activating the apoenzyme or otherwise inactive form of said electrochemical enzyme when said target substrate is not cleaved; wherein at least one of said hydrolase analyte enzymes cleaves at least one of said target substrates, enabling said cofactor, prosthetic group or said activation moiety to activate said apoenzyme or said inactive form of said electrochemical enzyme; resulting in a detectable electrochemical change in at least one of said electrodes; and wherein said complex is on a surface that is spatially separated from the region or regions of the apparatus where the apoenzyme or inactive form of said electrochemical enzyme are located.