Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Biosensor Laboratories Co., Ltd.

Biosensor Research Laboratories Co., Ltd.

Michihiro Nakamura

Makoto Yano

Hitoshi Tsuruta

Keiko Oka

Satomi Matsui

Hideaki Yamada

Osamu Kusudo

Yoshito Hamamoto

Kenji Kubota

Hidenori Gion

Takuji Kato

Shigeji Ito

Makotao Yano

Yoshihiro Koori

Hiroshi Tsurumi

Hidehiko Ikeya

There is disclosed an apparatus for the determination of a trace amount of an analyte substance or organism. A substrate solution is brought into contact with a small diameter tube which has captured, at least on its inner surface, a trace amount of an analyte substance or organism. The trace amount has the ability to change the pH of the substrate solution. A pH change following a reaction of a substrate in the substrate solution in the small diameter tube is measured;

Apparatus for the determination of a trace amount of an analyte

A method for assaying an enzyme on a targeted solid body surface, including the steps of contacting an end opening of a thin tube with a targeted solid body surface to form a space between the targeted solid body surface and inner wall surface of the thin tube, supplying a substrate solution into the space to bring the substrate solution in contact with the targeted solid body surface, and determining a pH change of the substrate solution in the space by using a pH electrode; and an apparatus therefor.

Method for assaying urease

A method for measuring trace amounts of analyte substance(s), which utilize a pH electrode is disclosed. This method is by far simpler than conventional optical detecting systems. The apparatus for practicing the method is also disclosed. By the use of pH electrode, the apparatus is compact, inexpensive and easy to operate, and hence usable in small-size and medium-size hospitals or clinical laboratories and by patient's bedside.

Method and apparatus for the measurement of analyte substances

A blood component monitoring system for monitoring chemical substances of interest in blood, which includes a transfusion circuit including a flow-through cell adapted to be fluid-connected with a blood vessel through an indwelling catheter, a reservoir for accommodating a quantity of physiologically compatible sensor correcting solution, a connecting tubing extending between the reservoir and the flow-through cell and a transfusion pump; a detector unit including a temperature sensor and a chemical sensitive sensor device both incorporated inside the flow-through cell. A transfusion pump drive circuit is provided for controlling operation of the transfusion pump, a sensor drive circuit is provided for driving the temperature sensor and the chemical sensitive sensor device, a processing unit is provided for controlling both of the transfusion pump drive circuit and the sensor drive circuit and for reading respective outputs from the temperature sensor and the chemical sensitive sensor device and converting the outputs into respective measured values, and an output device is provided for externally outputting the measured values.

Blood component monitoring system

An ion activity monitoring device is disclosed, having a semi-conductor device including an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor, for detecting the activity of ions in a liquid medium of interest, and a temperature sensor, for detecting the temperature of the liquid medium of interest, a constant current circuit for supplying a drain current of a particular value to the transistor, and a processing circuit for calculating the concentration of the ions in the liquid medium of interest. The drain current is of a value satisfying the relationship of .vertline.Id/.beta..vertline..ltoreq.0.10 volt.sup.2, wherein Id represents the drain current and .beta. represents the channel characteristic value of the ion-sensitive field-effect transistor. A method for operating the transistor is also disclosed.

Method and device for compensating temperature-dependent characteristic

An apparatus for measuring the quantities of chemical substances contained in a solution to be assayed by using a chemical-substance sensitive sensor consists of a potentiometric electrode which responds selectively to chemical substances, and a liquid-junction type reference electrode including a tube, a porous thread member housed in the front end opening of the tube and having a pore capacity of 0.2 cc/g or more and at least the surface of which is hydrophilic, a silver-silver chloride wire is provided and housed in the tube so that at one end of the wire is in contact with the thread member and the wire which extends along the tube. The wire is connected to a connector at the other end opening of the tube, an electrical insulating resin fills said tube, at least at the front end portion thereof, for fixing both the silver-silver chloride wire and the thread member by contact therewith and for stopping said tube. An internal solution is retained by suction in said porous thread member. This apparatus is advantageously used for monitoring the living body and may be thermally sterilized.

Chemical substance measuring apparatus

A gas sensor with its photosensitivity allayed in which a hydrogen ion sensitive FET transducer having the structure of a gate-insulated field effect transistor and an Ag-AgCl reference electrode are housed inside a flexible tube in such a way that the gate part of said FET transducer and the reference electrode are located at the front end opening of the tube or an opening provided in the side wall of the tube; while the lead wires connected to the FET transducer and the reference electrode are extended along the tube, this tube is closed by filling an electrical insulation resin at least in the space of the part inside the tube wall housing the parts connecting the lead wires to the aforementioned FET transducer and to the reference electrode; further, a hydrophilic polymer containing an electrolyte is put around at least the gate part of said FET and part of the reference electrode, to envelop both of them; and whole of the surface of the aforementioned hydrophilic polymer and that of at least the part of the insulator tube housing the FET transducer are coated with a gas permeable membrane formed of a colored silicone rubber with a low optical transmittance.

Gas sensor

The present invention provides photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical cells, which photoelectrodes are essentially composed of a surface-chalcogenated molybdenum or tungsten metal. These photoelectrodes have long life, are highly efficient in energy conversion, and are inexpensive.

Growing community of inventors

Kurashiki, Japan

Michihiro Nakamura