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CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS
There are a plethora of biosensor applications in the medical industry that have made patients feel more secure and care providers less stressed. Innovation has led to biosensors that help people in every clinical situation - from the surgery room to home use. They can assess your health status, detect metabolites, assist drug delivery, and even be implanted inside you for constant monitoring. On this page, learn about a few important roles biosensors play in clinical diagnostics!
Implantable biosensors are extremely helpful in rapidly monitoring slight changes that can offer valuable information to doctor for prognosis, personalized treatment, and surgery. These biosensors are placed in vivo, or inside the body, through small probes that are minimally evasive to detect the physiologic signals that could warn patients of the harm to come. Typically, these biosensors are used to identify various proteins, nucleic acids, and metabolites such as glucose, lactate, pyruvate, urea, and glutamate; a minute difference in any of molecular concentrations can activate a tremendous problem.
Doctors utilize biosensors in the brain to monitor and give secondly reports on miniscule changes that can signal ischemia, a restriction of blood in tissues, and seizures. Usually placed in the brain extracellular fluid (ECF), these in vivo biosensors measure metabolites, ions, and neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, GABA, and serotonin.
Biosensors can also be placed in the gastrointestinal tract to detect toxicity compounds. Before biosensors were implemented, doctors had a hard time measuring with the frequent bowel movements, but now, that problem has been eliminated.
Implantable Biosensors
The only downside to these implantable biosensors is that they must be sterilized for medical use, but that may cause malfunctions and defects in the electrical component of the biosensor. However, biosensors are being developed to address these challenges.
Improving Artificial Organs
Thus, to avoid guessing and inaccurate measurements, biosensors have been enabled in the Artificial Pancreas Device System (APDS) to constantly monitor blood sugar and deliver the correct amount of insulin. The APDS has a "closed loop" feedback control of insulin rate detected by the implanted glucose sensor, which allows the patients' health to remain stable at all times. It also improves the quality of life for diabetics because there is less chance of having dangerously low glucose levels. Look on the right to see how the artificial pancreas works:
Artificial organs give important diagnostics to doctors as well as help the patient cope with the loss of an organ. They can act as substitutes to do normal bodily functions, such as deliver insulin. Biosensors are often used in artificial organs to give precise readings on the amount of molecule that is the body. Some tasks biosensors can help with include the infusion of insulin, pacemaker control, blood pressure, artificial heart, and other artificial organs. Biosensors will be more involved with artificial organs as they are evolved to have a longer life and have more longevity.
The most important role biosensors have in the artificial organ industry currently is in the artificial pancreas. Around three million people in the U.S. possess Type 1 diabetes (T1D), a disease in which the pancreas attacks its insulin-secreting cells called beta cells. Without insulin, the body is unable to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood nor can it convert glucose into energy in the form of ATP. Having no insulin or having an incorrect dosage of insulin can have dire effects on a person.Traditionally, people with T1D have to inject insulin in order to prevent high blood sugar, but if too much is injected, then they can develop hypoglcemia, or low blood sugar, which can result in comas and death if left untreated.
Assisting Microdialysis
Microdialysis, a technique that mimics small blood vessels, can be employed to figure out the biochemical components in tissue extracellular space. However, it can take longer than required, which is not beneficial to neither doctor nor patient. Therefore, biosensors can be coupled with microdialysis to detect metabolites, which makes the process real-time with even more precise measurements.
The Glucose Meter
The most common application of biosensors today has to be the hand-held glucose blood meter for diabetics. Dr. Leland Clark was the first person to invent this biosensor, and his method of detecting glucose is still being applied today. This device, composed of a lancet, test strip, and meter, can monitor blood glucose levels in seconds. The blood glucose meter has revolutionized bulky testing into easy, quick detection that has made many diabetics feel liberated and in control of their own body. Let's go over how this feat in biotechnology can detect glucose!
1) First, the diabetic pricks their finger with a lancet, or a small scapal, usually given with the blood glucose meter.
2) Then, the person transfers the blood on to a glucose test strip, where it is sucked in through by capillary action. The test strip is mainly comprised of 10 layers that have chemicals or act like spacers. There usually is a layer of immobilized enzyme, glucose oxidase, and microcrystalline potassium ferricyanide; these layers have to be separated in order for the blood to enter. The test strip is connected to the glucose sensor.
3) Once the blood enters, a chemical process begins to take place. The glucose in the blood sample reacts with the glucose oxidase in the test strip to form gluconic acid, which then reacts with ferricyanide to form ferrocyanide.
4) Lastly the ferrocyanide reduces, or gives an electron, to the electrode in the sensor which generates a current directly proportional to the glucose concentration. Thus, a high level of ferrocyanide equals a high blood sugar level. After the biosensor is done analyzing, it reveals the blood glucose concentration in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
Since some diabetics may consider the blood glucose meter as painful, scientists have developed sensors that can detect your blood sugar levels through your saliva and even tears! Read all about it .
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