A microneedle-based glucose monitor: fabricated on a wafer-level using in-device enzyme immobilization

• Published in: TRANSDUCERS '03. 12th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems. Digest of Technical Papers (Cat. No.03TH8664) Vol. 1; pp. 99 - 102 vol.1
• Main Authors: Zimmermann, S., Fienbork, D., Stoeber, B., Flounders, A.W., Liepmann, D.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2003
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biomembranes; Epidermis; Micromechanical devices; Minimally invasive surgery; Monitoring; Prototypes; Sugar; Temperature sensors; Wafer bonding
• ISBN: 9780780377318; 0780377311
• DOI: 10.1109/SENSOR.2003.1215262

This paper presents a disposable minimally invasive self-calibrating continuous glucose monitor consisting of hollow out-of-plane microneedles to sample interstitial fluid from the epidermis, an integrated porous poly-Si dialysis membrane and an integrated enzyme-based flow-through glucose sensor. The proposed system can be fabricated on a wafer-level using standard MEMS technology and a novel in-device enzyme immobilization technique that allows wafer-level patterning of enzymes inside micro-scale flow channels after wafer bonding. This technique solves the compatibility issue of high temperature wafer bonding and temperature sensitive enzymes. A prototype of the glucose monitor is fabricated in order to demonstrate the high potential of out-of-plane microneedles for this application. Sampling of interstitial fluid through the microneedles results in a significant sensor response of the integrated glucose sensor.