Sensor card for determining analytes in liquid or gas samples and method for producing such a sensor card

• US 20090321258A1
• Filed: 11/17/2004
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH (Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA)
• Original Assignee: Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH (Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA)
• Inventors: Mager, Gerhard, Chemnitius, Gabriele, Hacker, Jurgen, Schrors, Alexander, Abel, Petra
• Granted Patent: US 7,837,845 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 204/416
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/492 Determining multiple analytes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor

Abstract

A sensor card for determining analytes in liquid and gas samples with films connected to one another in sheetlike fashion, namely a sensor film facing the sample with openings and a covering film remote from the sample with openings for electrical tapping, at least one sensor being provided and arranged between the sensor film and the covering film. There is provided between the sensor film and the covering film at least one intermediate film, in which cutouts are provided, the sensor being arranged in one of the cutouts. The sensor card provides a homogeneous thickness, which brings about a reliable sealing of the flow channels for the liquid sample if the sensor card is connected to a plate that partially forms the flow channels within the analysis system. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for producing such a sensor card.

Claims

1. A sensor card for determining analytes in liquid or gas samples with films connected to one another in sheetlike fashion, comprising:

a sensor film with sample openings therethrough, the sensor film adapted to contact a sample;

a planar covering film with electrical tapping openings therethrough, the covering film adapted to be remote from the sample;

at least one intermediate film provided between the sensor film and the covering film, the intermediate film having at least one cutout; and

at least one sensor or part thereof coplanar with the intermediate film and arranged in the at least one cutout,

wherein the sensor film, the at least one intermediate film, and the covering film are arranged one above the other in sheetlike fashion, and are connected by adhesive bonding, hot lamination, heat welding or radio frequency welding.

2. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the at least one intermediate film is greater than or equal to a thickness of the at least one sensor.

3. The sensor card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the openings for electrical tapping are filled with a cured electrically conductive paste.

4. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is an ion-selective sensor which may be electrically tapped via one of the electrical tapping openings in the covering film, and come into contact with a liquid or gas sample via one of the sample openings in the sensor film.

5. The sensor card according to claim 4, wherein the opening for electrical tapping in the covering film is arranged parallel to and offset with respect to the opening in the sensor film.

6. The sensor card according to claim 4, wherein the ion-selective sensor has a carrier material enclosed in the cut-out, which is activated with an ion-selective reagent mixture in the region of the sample opening in the sensor film.

7. The sensor card according to claim 6, wherein the carrier material has a conductive coating at its side facing the opening for electrical tapping.

8. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein the sensor film has a plurality of printed-on electrical conductor tracks facing the at least one intermediate film, the conductor tracks being electrically tappable via the openings for electrical tapping and the at least one cutout in the intermediate film.

9. The sensor card according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of conductor tracks comprises a first conductor track and a second conductor track, and the at least one sensor is a gas sensor that is in contact with the first conductor track and the second conductor track on the sensor film and can contact a liquid or gas sample via one of the sample openings in the sensor film.

10. The sensor card according to claim 9, wherein the gas sensor is a carbon dioxide sensor.

11. The sensor card according to claim 10, wherein the carbon dioxide sensor has a carrier material having a coating facing the sensor film, which is an imprint made of silver chloride and a pH-sensitive material, there being applied on the coating an inner electrolyte and a gas-permeable membrane as activation.

12. The sensor card according to claim 9, wherein the gas sensor is an oxygen sensor.

13. The sensor card according to claim 12, wherein the oxygen sensor has a carrier material with layers of a material suitable as a working electrode and of a material suitable as a reference electrode;

the layers being printed on the carrier material, there being applied on the layers an inner electrolyte and a gas-permeable membrane as activation.

14. The sensor card according to claim 8, wherein

the plurality of conductor tracks comprises a first conductor track and a second conductor track, and

the at least one sensor is a conductivity sensor having a first electrically conductive line section and a second electrically conductive line section which are spaced apart from one another and are printed on a side of the intermediate film which faces the sensor film,

the first line section being in contact with the first conductor track on the sensor film and the second line section being in contact with the second conductor track on the sensor film and it being possible for the first and second line sections to be wetted by the liquid sample via a sample opening within the sensor film and to be electrically conductively connected.

15. The sensor card according to claim 1, further comprising a ventilation membrane that is arranged in the at least one cutout in the intermediate film, a first ventilation opening in the sensor film, and a second ventilation opening in the covering film, wherein the ventilation membrane adjoins the first ventilation opening in the sensor film and the second ventilation opening in the covering film.

16. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein the at least one cutout in the intermediate film is elongated, the elongate cut-out being in flow connection with at least two separate sample openings in the sensor film.

17. The sensor card according to claim 16, wherein the two separate sample openings are elongated and run transversely at right angles to the elongate cut-out in the intermediate film.

18. The sensor card according to claim 1, further comprising a plate with at least one laterally open channel, the sensor film of the sensor card being fixed to the plate to form a laterally closed flow channel for the sample.

25. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein the entire at least one sensor is arranged in the at least one cutout of the intermediate layer.

26. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein the electrical tapping openings extend perpendicular to a top surface of the planar covering film.

27. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensor film, the planar covering film, and the at least one intermediate film are polyester films.

28. The sensor card according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of each of the sensor film, the planar covering film, and the at least one intermediate film are between 80 and 120 μ

m.

19. A method for producing a sensor card for determining analytes in liquid samples with films connected to one another in sheet-like fashion, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a sensor film with openings therethrough, a planar covering film with openings therethrough for electrical tapping, and at least one intermediate film with at least one cutout,

arranging at least one sensor or a part of a sensor coplanar with the intermediate film in the at least one cutout; and

connecting the films arranged one above the other in sheetlike fashion, the intermediate film being arranged between sensor film and covering film, wherein the sensor film, the at least one intermediate film, and the covering film are connected by adhesive bonding, hot lamination, heat welding or radio frequency welding.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of the sensor film or covering film is partially connected to the at least one intermediate film in sheetlike fashion prior to arranging the sensor or the part of the sensor in the at least one cutout.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein both the sensor film and the covering film are partially connected to the at least one intermediate film in sheetlike fashion prior to arranging the sensor or the part of the sensor in the at least one cutout.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein, prior to providing the sensor film, conductor tracks are printed onto a side of the sensor film adapted to face the at least one intermediate film by screen printing.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein, prior to providing the at least one intermediate film, line sections are printed onto a side of the intermediate film adapted to face the sensor film by screen printing.

24. (canceled)