Segmented Sense Pin Electrical Connector for Analyte Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for determining analytes in bodily fluids, such as glucose, face challenges in establishing reliable electrical connections between test strips and controllers, which affects the accuracy and versatility of analyte detection.
Innovation Solution
The development of an electrical connector with multiple function pins and a sense pin, designed to establish specific electrical connections with conductive tracks on test strips, includes alignment features and segmented pins to ensure proper insertion and reduce stress, allowing for accurate analyte detection and compatibility with various test strip configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple function pins and sense pins are used to establish specific electrical connections with conductive tracks, then analyte detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sense pin is divided into multiple electrically-connected segments that can be mechanically mounted to the housing in different orientations. This segmentation allows the sense pin to contact multiple conductive tracks on the test strip, enabling simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes (glucose and hematocrit) while maintaining a modular structure that manages complexity through systematic division of the sensing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical connector is designed with multiple function pins and a multi-segment sense pin that can establish specific electrical connections with different conductive tracks on the test strip. This multi-functional design enables the connector to support various test strip configurations and perform multiple measurement functions (glucose detection, hematocrit detection) through a single unified device, improving measurement precision without requiring separate dedicated devices for each function.
2Ease of operation
If alignment features are spaced apart from the port to define insertion direction, then proper insertion is ensured, but the length of the connector increases
Solution Approach 1:
Alignment features are positioned asymmetrically relative to the port, with specific features spaced at defined distances from the port to establish a unique insertion direction. This asymmetric arrangement ensures that the test strip can only be inserted in the correct orientation, preventing misinsertion errors while maintaining a compact overall connector length by optimizing the spatial distribution of alignment features rather than uniformly spacing them.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector can receive a substrate having conductive tracks. The connector includes a housing with a port and at least one alignment feature that together define a direction of insertion. At least three function pins mounted to the housing each include contacts that electrically connect to one of the conductive tracks of a substrate inserted in the connector. A sense pin mounted to the housing has a contact that electrically connects to at least one of the conductive tracks of an inserted substrate. The sense pin can include a plurality of electrically-connected segments, each segment extending substantially parallel or substantially perpendicular to the direction of insertion of the substrate. Systems and methods for detecting an analyte in a bodily-fluid sample are also described.