Multi-Element Glucose Sensor for Interference-Resistant Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional continuous analyte sensors face challenges in achieving accurate measurements across a physiologically relevant range, often sacrificing accuracy in low-analyte environments for high-analyte environments and vice versa, due to interference from non-analyte-related signals and noise.
Innovation Solution
A sensor system comprising multiple sensor elements with different sensitivities and configurations, each designed to accurately measure glucose concentration in specific ranges, with sensor electronics integrating signals and assigning weights based on interferent levels to improve measurement accuracy across both low and high glucose levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single sensor element is used to measure glucose concentration, then the device complexity is low, but the measurement precision deteriorates in the presence of interferents
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the sensing function into multiple sensor elements (first sensor element and second sensor element), each with different sensitivities to glucose and interferents. This segmentation allows the system to process multiple signals and selectively weight them based on interferent levels, thereby improving measurement precision without requiring a single complex sensor element.
2Measurement precision
If sensor electronics integrate multiple signals with dynamic weighting, then the measurement precision improves across different glucose ranges, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor electronics dynamically adjust the weighting factors applied to signals from different sensor elements based on detected interferent levels. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize measurement precision for different physiological conditions (hyperglycemic vs. hypoglycemic ranges) while managing the complexity through algorithmic rather than hardware complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the weighting parameters assigned to different sensor element signals based on the detected level of interferents. By adjusting these parameters dynamically, the system maintains high measurement precision across varying glucose concentrations and interferent conditions without requiring fundamentally different sensor hardware for each condition.
3Reliability
If the sensor system uses multiple sensor elements with different interferent sensitivities, then the reliability improves in varying interferent conditions, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each sensor element is designed with specific local qualities - different sensitivities to glucose and different sensitivities to interferents. This allows the system to exploit these localized characteristics to maintain reliability across varying interferent conditions by selectively weighting signals from elements with appropriate sensitivity profiles for the current conditions.
Data Source
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AI summary
Devices and methods are provided for continuous measurement of an analyte concentration. The device can include a sensor having a plurality of sensor elements, each having at least one characteristic that is different from other sensor(s) of the device. In some embodiments, the plurality of sensor elements are each tuned to measure a different range of analyte concentration, thereby providing the device with the capability of achieving a substantially consistent level of measurement accuracy across a physiologically relevant range. In other embodiments, the device includes a plurality of sensor elements each tuned to measure during different time periods after insertion or implantation, thereby providing the sensor with the capability to continuously and accurately measure analyte concentrations across a wide range of time periods. For example, a sensor system 180 is provided having a first working electrode 150 comprising a first sensor element 102 and a second working electrode 160 comprising a second sensor element 104, and a reference electrode 108 for providing a reference value for measuring the working electrode potential of the sensor elements 102, 104.