Medtronic Minimed, Inc.

Yihua Yu

Jesper Svenning Kristensen

Klaus Gregorius

Casper Struve

John Myhre Frederiksen

A sensor for the in vivo detection of glucose comprises: components of an assay for glucose, a readout of which is a detectable optical signal which can be interrogated transcutaneously by external optical means when the sensor is implanted in vivo; and a shell of biodegradable material encapsulating the assay components while allowing analyte to contact the assay components, wherein the biodegradable material comprises a co-polymer having hydrophobic and hydrophilic units. A method of preparing such a sensor preferably comprises coacervation, solvent evaporation and/or extraction, spray drying, spray coating, spray chilling, rotary disk atomisation, fluid bed coating, coextrusion and/or pan coating. A method of detecting glucose using such a sensor suitably comprises implantation of the sensor into the skin of a mammal, transdermal detection or measurement of glucose using external optical means and degradation of the biodegradable material.

Optical sensor for in vivo detection of analyte

A sensor for the detection or measurement of carbohydrate analyte (such as glucose) in fluid comprises components of a competitive binding assay the readout of which is a detectable or measurable optical signal (such as FRET assay) retained by a material that permits diffusion of analyte but not the assay components, the assay components comprising: an animal lectin; and an analyte analogue capable of competing with analyte for binding to the lectin.

Sensor for detection of carbohydrate

A sensor for the detection or measurement of a carbohydrate analyte in fluid comprises components of a competitive binding assay the readout of which is a detectable or measurable optical signal retained by a material that permits diffusion of the analyte but not the assay components, the assay components comprising: a carbohydrate binding molecule labelled with one of a proximity based signal generating/modulating moiety pair; and a carbohydrate analogue capable of competing with the analyte for binding to the carbohydrate binding molecule, the carbohydrate analogue being a flexible water-soluble polymer comprising: polymerized or co-polymerised residues of monomer units, the monomer unit residues bearing pendant carbohydrate or carbohydrate mimetic moieties and pendant moieties which are the other of the proximity based signal generating/modulating moiety pair.

Flexible carbohydrate-bearing polymer

A sensor for sensing analyte concentration comprises at least two different variants of an appropriate competitive binding assay, the sensor being capable of sensing accurately a required range of analyte concentrations by means of the variants of the assay each being capable of sensing accurately a part only of the required range of analyte concentrations and the variants of the assay being chosen to sense overlapping or adjoining ranges of concentration covering the whole of the required range.

Growing community of inventors

Birkerød, Denmark

Yihua Yu