Improvement of dual-glucose sensor specificity for prosthetic vascular grafts based on a calibration scheme

Abstract

Glucose monitoring is an important clinical procedure, especially for dialysis patients who need consistent monitoring of their glucose levels. Currently, the most extensively used method for glucose monitoring involves pricking the finger and sampling a small amount of blood. Given that this procedure is inconvenient and can cause pain and potential infection, there is demand for the development of alternative glucose sensing methods. This study introduces a methodology for improved glucose sensor specificity based on a calibration scheme. One microwave and one capacitive glucose sensor were designed and placed on a prosthetic vascular graft. Each sensor yielded a finite variation in the measured glucose concentrations based on its capacity to sense permittivity changes in aqueous D-glucose solutions. However, as blood components other than glucose-such as proteins, erythrocytes and haemoglobin-may affect the measurements, the authors also introduced a calibration scheme to adjust and calibrate each measurement to ensure accuracy. The measurement data yielded a maximum error of <7.33%. Based on these outcomes, the specificity of glucose monitoring in prosthetic vascular grafts is validated.