Patent Application: US-50468795-A

Abstract:
the present invention is a novel , ultra - small tip , internal referenced , amperometric microbiosensor that uses an immobilized biological interface to measure the concentration of an analyte in a specimen . it consists of a casing that narrows to an aperture having a diameter at the tip no greater than 4 μm ; enclosed within the casing a reference electrode and a working electrode both immersed in electrolyte ; within the aperture , an inner polymer film , an immobilized biological interface layer , and an outer specimen - compatible , non - virulent polymer film . another important feature of the present invention is that the microbiosensor can readily be encased in a durable protective sheath . the microbiosensor is especially useful in situ for specimens that cannot be mixed , such as in situ compounds in unmixed fluid , or semi - solid specimens . the microbiosensor provides 90 % response time less than 5 seconds and typically about 1 second , less than 5 % change in output current due to changes in the stirring rate , and the ability to measure in viscous , semi - solid or porous - solid specimens with a spatial resolution as small as 30 μm .

Description:
the present invention is concerned with a microbiosensor . it can be prepared as follows : the amperometric oxygen microelectrode ( fig1 ) consists of a cathode 1 , a case 2 , and an anode 3 . the cathode is made from 0 . 3 mm diameter platinum wire 4 that is electrochemically etched in a saturated cyanide solution to a very fine tip of 1 - 5 μm . the wire is inserted into a tapered green - glass tube 5 . the untapered end of the tube is then fused in a propane flame to a soda - lime - glass tube that forms a shaft . an electric microforge is used to fuse 1 . 5 to 2 cm of the tapered green glass to the wire . the glass at the tip of the wire is gently heated , causing it to retract and expose about 10 μm of the wire at the tip , which is then electroplated with gold 6 , using an optical microscope and a micromanipulator . one of the oculars has incorporated a micrometer reticle calibrated for micrometers , so that the whole micro - manufacturing and micro - assembling process can be performed with an adequate precision and reproducibility . the case , which ultimately contains the cathode , is made from a soda - lime - glass pasteur pipette that is pulled in a propane flame to give a fine , tapered capillary 2 to 10 μm in diameter . the capillary is broken using a tweezer , leveled and heated under the microscope to constrict the tip aperture 7 to about 1 - 2 μm . the tip is then dipped into silicone , under microscope using the micromanipulator , giving a 5 - 10 μm thick silicone membrane 9 . after the silicone has cured , the cathode is inserted into the case until the cathode tip comes within about 10 μm of the silicone membrane and the shaft is then partially glued to the case with a droplet of epoxy resin adhesive . the anode is made out an ag / agcl wire , with a diameter of 0 . 25 mm . the microelectrode is completed by adding electrolyte 12 1m kcl and the anode into the case and sealing all openings with adhesive . the calibration consists in applying a polarization voltage of - 750 mv at the working electrode ( the cathode ) with respect to the reference electrode ( the anode ). then , by immersing the microprobe into a phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 5 ) and bubbling nitrogen or oxygen / air through this liquid , the zero and 100 % values of the sensor can be established from the picoammeter readings . to add the biological interface ( fig2 and 3 ), the microelectrode is tipped with a porous layer or film of immobilized biocatalyst , e . g . an oxidase enzyme , commercially available for a variety of substrates . the glucose microbiosensor , for example , essentially consists of an amperometric oxygen microelectrode tipped with immobilized glucose oxidase ( gox ) that catalyzes the reaction : this reaction proceeds in the presence of glucose , and the resulting consumption of oxygen causes a decrease in the probe &# 39 ; s current . if the glucose concentration is rate - limiting , the electrode &# 39 ; s response decreases monotonically with increasing glucose concentration . thus , the gox microsensor may be calibrated and then used as a glucose sensor . the biological interface therefore aids in measurement of the analyte by its catalytic action . the variation in current is dependent on the analyte concentration within the specimen . the biological component may be immobilized onto the electrode tip in at least two alternative ways . the first is to force both the silicone 9 and biological interface 13 ( immobilized in a polyacrylamide solution ) into the tip of the case ( fig2 ). the second way is to simply apply an ultra - small droplet of the polyacrylamide - biocatalyst mixture onto the tip ( fig3 ). the gel is then allowed to cure to 6 - 10 hours at room temperature . to date , the second method has been easier to do , but the former method allows better control of the ultimate tip diameter and protects the enzyme layer within the glass tip . several initiator systems for acrylamide polymerization procedures and physical entrapment of the biological interface were initially tried : ( ammonium persulphate + heat ), ( riboflavin + visible light ) and [ ammonium persulphate + tetraethylmethylenediamine ( temed )]. the most successful appears to be the last method . two types of membrane films were tried as protective outer layer 14 , applied over the polyacrylamide biological interface gel : cellulose acetate and polyurethane . both materials are generally accepted as safe and non - toxic in contact with living specimens . some problems with cellulose toxicity have been suggested : corneal toxicity in rabbits ( durand - cavagna et al ., 1989 ) or intratracheal in hamsters ( milton et al ., 1990 ). extensive studies showed no toxic effects of polyurethane , and it gives high flexibility , toughness , excellent dimensional and hydrolytic stability ( planck et al ., 1987 ). the polyurethane makes a more stable protective membrane than cellulose acetate . the polyurethane solution is prepared by making a mixture of 98 % tetrahydrofuran and 2 % n , n - dimethylacetamide and dissolving polyurethane in it to a final concentration of 5 % ( w / v ). the sensor tip is dipped into this solution a couple of times , and then the solvent is allowed to evaporate at a room temperature for 5 - 8 hours . it is to be appreciated that the microbiosensor of the present invention has primary applicability in a number of food related processes . accordingly , therefore , the components that come in contact with the food such as the outer polymer membrane and the needle should be compatible with the specimen being tested . the utilization of the terminology &# 34 ; non - virulent &# 34 ; means that it should not be toxic or poisonous to the specimen being tested . in other words , the micro biosensor would be stable in the environment of the specimen for the period of time that the testing occurs . the sensor of the present invention can be used to detect a number of analytes using a variety of biological interfaces , e . g ., enzymes , particularly directed towards the desired substrate . in other words , the biological interface , e . g ., enzyme that would be immobilized would vary depending upon the material to be detected . in general , the sensor is preferably an oxygen sensor although other sensors are applicable depending upon the enzyme to be utilized . the materials that can be tested include sugars such as fructose , sucrose , lactose , galactose and other analytes such as hydrogen peroxide and choline . in general any substance that would be present in a fluid , viscous or semi - solid specimen may be detected utilizing the technique of the present invention . examples or specimens may be biological fluids , food samples , biofilms , single cells , and the like . the microbiosensors of the present invention offer several advantages over other biosensors , including ( i ) stirring insensitivity ; ( ii ) the ability to non - destructively measure analyte concentrations in situ within unmixed liquid , viscous , and semi - solid specimens having a volume as small as a few microliters ; ( iii ) response time of a few seconds ( iv ) high sensitivity ; low levels of background electrical noise ; ( v ) repetitive use for extended time ; ( vi ) may be encased within protective sheaths for durable use in field or industrial settings ; ( vii ) potential for low cost per measurement . having described the invention in general listed below are preferred embodiments wherein all percentages are percent by weight , and all temperatures are degrees centigrade unless otherwise indicated . a typical calibration curve for the glucose microbiosensor is shown in fig4 . the characteristics of other enzyme amperometric enzyme microbiosensors are reported later on , for detecting lactose ( fig8 ), galactose ( fig7 ), choline ( fig9 ) and hydrogen peroxide ( fig1 ). glucose depletion at the surface of the meat is caused by the activity of the microbial flora . once glucose is depleted , amino acids are broken down , with the production of toxic amides ( kress - rogers et al ., 1992 ); therefore glucose can be used as a freshness indicator . the glucose oxidase ec 1 . 1 . 3 . 4 ., from aspergillus niger , grade vii - s , with the activity off 10 , 000 - 20 , 000 units / mg solid is purchased from sigma chemical co ., st . louis , mo . the enzymes used , including the β - galactosidase ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 23 , from escherichia coli grade vi with 320 units / mg solid , the galactose oxidase ec 1 . 1 . 3 . 9 . from dactylium dendroides , and the catalase ec 1 . 11 . 1 . 6 from bovine liver 41 , 000 units / mg protein , are from sigma chemical . the choline oxidase ec 1 . 1 . 3 . 17 . from alcaligenes species with 13 - 16 units / mg solid is from icn biomedicals , aurora , ohio . the green glass ( schott 8533 ) and soda lime glass ( schott 8414 ) are from schott glasswerke , mainz , germany . the bicomponent resin hardener adhesive gel is made by devcon corp ., wood dale , ill ., and the silicone gel used to make the microprobe membrane is sylgard 527 , from dow corning , midland , mich . the optical microscope is olympus ch - 2 , japan ; the microforge is built by michigan state university , microelectrode laboratory and the calibration chambers were from koh development , ann arbor , mich . the microprobes &# 39 ; signals are measured by a picoammeter made by diamond general , ann arbor , mich . and recorded by the dual flat bed recorder bd211 , kipp & amp ; zonen , delft , netherlands . the oxygen microprobes are built generally using the method from aarhus universitet , denmark ( revsbech , 1989 ). performance data for the glucose microbiosensors ( fig4 - 6 ) show detection limits of 1 - 10μm , response times of 0 . 5 - 1 . 5 sec ., linear ranges of 0 - 10 mm and sensitivities of 10 - 100 pa / mm . the glucose microbiosensors of the present invention show good selectivity which is demonstrated by very low , if any , responses to other sugars , like fructose and sucrose and the performance in a complex sugar solution containing 2 % each of fructose , galactose , sucrose and lactose ( fig5 ). these sensors have been operational after 50 tests during up to 6 consecutive months period of time . lactose intolerance in humans is based on an inherited deficiency in the activity of enzyme β - galactosidase in the intestine ( taylor et al ., 1992 ). prototype lactose microprobes have had detection limits close to 500μm and linear ranges of 0 . 5 - 400 mm ( fig8 ). the need for suitable methods for early detection of galactosemia and galactose intolerance has prompted the need for galactose detection in blood ( taylor et al ., 1992 ) or food ( gropper et al ., 1993 ; o &# 39 ; connor et al ., 1992 ). prototype galactose microprobes have had detection limits of 1 - 10μm and linear ranges of 0 - 7 mm ( fig7 ). choline dietary deficiency produces pathologic lesions in organs , enhances the initiating potency of several carcinogens and may directly increase hepatic and other tumor formation ( milner , 1992 ; hayatsu , 1991 ). choline detection is also useful as a screening test for anticholinesterase activity , to evaluate the pollution caused by organo - phosphorus pesticides and other compounds with similar toxicological behavior . the use of insecticides by farmers ( e . g ., in europe ) is a serious problem for both the equilibrium of aquatic ecosystems and food contamination . prototype choline microbiosensors work with ranges of 0 - 10 mm and have had detection limits of 5 - 15μm ( fig9 ). hydrogen peroxide ( h 2 o 2 ) is used in food industry as a bleaching and antimicrobial agent . its toxicity , while difficult to detect with the standard tests , was proved by in vitro cytogenetic tests for several cell lines [ ishidate m ., jr ., 1991 ]. it induced duodenal tumors in mice by administration of 0 . 4 % in drinking water . for tea and coffee , hydrogen peroxide has been showed to play an essential role in mutagenicity , at levels of 100 - 200μm [ aeschbacher , 1991 ]. the toxicity of h 2 o 2 was investigated for human embryonic fibroblasts [ oya et al ., 1992 and 1995 ] and also for dna , enzymes and fatty acids [ proca et al ., 1993 ]. peroxide toxicity was determined by studies on guinea pigs , cho cells , bovine tracheal myocites and rat cardiac myocites [ misawa and arai , 1993 ; abe et al ., 1994 ; cantoni et al ., 1994 ]. it also has been frequently reported to induce or augment dna damage [ luo et al ., 1994 ; martins and meneghini , 1994 ] with implications for asbestos carcinogenesis [ mahmood et al ., 1994 ]. the frequency of mutation of escherichia coli genes increased by up to 30 fold , proportional with the h 2 o 2 concentration [ akasaka and yamamoto , 1994 ]. the hydrogen peroxide microbiosensor was built with an immobilized film of catalase . detection limit was as low as a few μm , and the linear range extended from 0 to about 2 . 5 mm . a typical calibration curve for the h 2 o 2 microbiosensor is shown in fig1 . several glucose microbiosensors have been successfully tested for measuring concentration gradients of soft - solid gels inside a diffusion gradient chamber . the diffusion gradient chamber ( dgc ) houses a slab - shaped layer of semi - solid agarose gel . liquid reservoirs on opposite sides of the chamber allow chemical gradients to be established across the gel . the dgc has been shown to be useful in studying microbial chemotaxis ( e . g . bacterial movement in presence of a chemical concentration gradient as attractant or repellent ) and isolating microorganisms having novel properties [ emerson et al ., 1994 ]. the experimental protocol was the following : ( ii ) calibrate the microbiosensor in the calibration chamber ( outside the dgc ) as described above . ( iii ) mount the microbiosensor in the micromanipulator arm . the micromanipulator arm with the sensor will move in the horizontal plane , along the x axis and the y axis of the rectangular dgc arena . ( iv ) the glucose concentration can be recorded as picoammmeter current output in any point ( x , y ) by lowering the microbiosensor in to the agarose gel with the micromanipulator arm . ( v ) after mapping the whole dgc arena , the microbiosensor amperage data are converted into glucose concentrations using the calibration curve and plotted ( fig1 ). ( vi ) to validate the microsensor data , a number of samples have been extracted from the gel , and the glucose concentration was measured using the standard enzymatic assay from sigma chemical co . an example of the microbiosensor data vs . both the standard assay and predictions of a mathematical model is showed in fig1 . an alternative embodiment of the present invention as shown in fig1 is utilized in the present example . a protective sheath was placed about the microbiosensor . the protective sheath preferably is non - toxic , bio - compatible and resilient , that is , break resistant . the protective sheath can be austenitic , stainless steel ( aisi 304 , aisi 304l or aisi 316 ). another example is an austenitic alloy with molybdenum , providing better corrosion resistance , aisi 316 or aisi 316l . the two different types of needle designs shown in fig1 a , b are suitable for specimens having different textures : ( a ) a closed end , with tapered tip edge and lateral holes on the cylindro - conical hollow stem , for harder textures with less liquid content . ( b ) an open end , cylindrical 60 deg . cut tip edge and lateral slit on cylindrical hollow stem , for softer textures with more liquid content . in all cases , the total area of openings in the needle &# 39 ; s wall measure less than 7854 μm 2 , equivalent to a single circular opening in the protective sheath of diameter less than 100 μm , or a square slit in the wall measuring 88 μm × 88 μm , or two circular openings having 70 μm diameter each . by using a precision tool , the stainless steel needle &# 39 ; s wall 19 is drilled ( 20 ) or cut longitudinally ( 21 ), deburred and sanded so that the microbiosensor tip can be seen and tracked under the microscope , while safely advanced inside the specially designed needle 22 . this is done while the microsensor cylindrical case 23 is mounted in the micromanipulator , having the needle mounted on the microscope stage . when the sensing tip 24 can be seen as occupying the best possible position inside the needle , a 10 ml syringe is used to inject epoxy ( available from devcon corp ., wood dale , ill . or super glue corp ., hollis , n . y .) resin in a thin , continuous layer between the needle wall and the cylindro - conical , microsensor glass outer case 25 . care must be taken that the resin , when cured , is close enough to the electrode tip to protect it from external particulate objects , yet still leave it access to the surrounding medium for measuring solute concentration . the result is the needle - type microbiosensor . the delicate glass tip is slightly recessed into a small resin cavity 26 inside the needle hollow body , and therefore is well protected from encountering objects . particles 27 massive enough to possibly break the glass tip should be too large to penetrate the holes or &# 34 ; windows &# 34 ; of the needle and will thus slide past along the tapered surface of stainless steel 28 and or cured resin 29 . we examined the effect of temperature on the performance of two glucose microbiosensors in the range of 5 to 50 ° c . calibrations tests were conducted with the calibration chamber . the buffer was maintained with the temperature preset with ± 0 . 2 ° c . accuracy , by immersion in a thermostated bath . then the usual calibration procedure was repeated for several temperatures ( 6 °, 12 °, 18 °, 27 °, 39 ° and 50 ° c .). the results are shown in fig1 a , b . if the arrhenius equation is used [ e . g . zeffren and hall , 1973 ], the same microbiosensor data can be plotted as the natural log of the sensitivity versus the inverse of the absolute temperature , as in fig1 . the activity of the immobilized glucose oxidase can be calculated from the slope of the linear segment of the curve , e . g . for microbiosensor b the apparent activity is 33 kj / mol , compared to 29 - 50 kj / mol from other authors [ sakura & amp ; buck , 1992 ; cass et al ., 1984 ]. the difference in microbiosensor sensitivity results from different glucose oxidase loadings . the optimal temperature is shown to be around 39 ° c . each geometric symbol represents a calibration test done with the microbiosensor . the stability and reproducibility of the microbiosensor were measured during short - term , wet - storage ( stws ) continuous monitoring . calibration tests were performed at 10 - 12 hour intervals for a total of minimum 72 hours . the microbiosensors were stored between calibrations at room temperature , with the tip immersed 4 mm in phosphate buffer , in an open glass beaker , with no stirring . the results are shown in the fig1 . microbiosensors encased in a protective sheath was mounted in a flexible holder and immersed with the tip ( the first 4 mm ) in an open glass beaker containing buffered distilled water , with the thermostat at 22 °± 1 ° c . and uniformly stirred at 80 rpm with a magnetic bar . the test consisted of ( i ) calibration by immersion in buffer subsequently saturated with dissolved air and nitrogen and ( ii ) calibration by adding analyte controlled aliquots , as described previously . to examine stability and reproducibility during the ltds - discontinuous monitoring , the oxygen measuring range [ pa ], analyte measuring range [ pa ], and analyte measuring sensitivity [ pa / mm ] were assessed over the whole life span . between tests , the microbiosensors were stored dry , inside glass tubes with silica gel powder at 4 ° c . the results are shown in the fig1 , 18 and 19 . each geometric symbol represents a calibration test done with the microbiosensor . the effect of the polymer outer protective membrane on the analyte measuring range is shown in fig2 a , b . a thin 2 - 3 μm polyurethane membrane appears to double the measuring span , and the use of a thick 6 - 7 μm membrane widens the measuring range three times . while the forms of the invention herein disclosed constitute presently preferred embodiments , many others are possible . it is not intended herein to mention all of the possible equivalent forms or ramifications of the invention . it is understood that the terms used herein are merely descriptive rather than limiting , and that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . for example , the present invention has utility in a wide variety of applications including food toxicology , crop and food quality assessment , probing immobilized biocatalysts , biofilms , and measuring the activity of large single cells . some general features of the microbiosensors of the present invention are shown below in table 1 . table 1______________________________________ immobilized detection response linearanalyte enzyme limit time range______________________________________glucose glucose 1 - 10 μm 0 . 4 - 0 . 8 0 - 10 mm oxidase sec . galac - glucose 1 - 10 μm 0 . 5 - 1 . 5 0 - 7 mmtose oxidase sec . lactose β - galactosidase 500 μm 1 - 2 sec . 0 . 5 - 400 mmcholine choline 5 - 15 μm 1 - 2 sec . 0 - 10 mm oxidaseh . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 catalase 1 - 10 μm 1 sec . 0 - 2 . 5 mm______________________________________ akasaka , s . & amp ; 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