OXYGEN SENSOR
First Claim
1. A device able to determine localized oxygen proximate the skin when the device is applied to the skin of a subject.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for determining oxygen in a sample, or in a subject. In one aspect, the present invention is generally directed to an article exhibiting a determinable feature responsive to oxygen, such as oxygen-sensitive particles. The particles may exhibit a determinable change with a change in oxygen concentration, and such particles can accordingly be used to determine oxygen. For example, in one set of embodiments, the particles may be at least partially coated with a protein, such as hemoglobin, that is able to interact with oxygen. In some cases, the protein may aggregate under certain conditions (e.g., under relatively low oxygen concentrations), and such protein aggregation may be used, for example, to cause the particles to become aggregated, which can be determined in some way. In some cases, such aggregation may be irreversible; i.e., the degree of aggregation corresponds to the most extreme oxygen concentrations that the proteins were exposed to. Such articles may be used, for example, to determine oxygen within a sample, or within a subject, such as a human subject. For instance, the article may be formed as a skin patch, or administered to the skin of a subject, e.g., on the surface of the skin, within the dermis or epidermis, etc., to determine oxygen within the subject.
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Citations
62 Claims
- 1. A device able to determine localized oxygen proximate the skin when the device is applied to the skin of a subject.
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35. A device at least partially insertable into the skin of a subject, the device able to determine oxygen concentration proximate at least a portion of the skin of the subject.
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36. A skin patch exhibiting a determinable feature responsive to oxygen when the skin patch is applied to a subject.
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37. A device containing a plurality of agents that exhibit increasing aggregation with decreasing oxygen concentration.
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38. An article, comprising:
a plurality of particles at least partially coated with sickle-cell hemoglobin.
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39. An article, comprising:
a liquid containing a plurality of agents that are able to aggregate when the concentration of oxygen within the liquid is less than about 90% of the saturation oxygen concentration of the liquid, but are not able to substantially aggregate when the liquid is saturated with oxygen.
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40. An article, comprising:
a plurality of particles coated with a polymer that exhibits at least about 10% polymerization when exposed to blood containing a concentration of oxygen less than about 90% of the saturation oxygen concentration of the blood.
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41. A method, comprising:
determining blood oxygen in a subject by administering an oxygen-sensitive agent to the subject. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A method, comprising:
determining blood oxygen in a subject by applying a skin patch to the subject.
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62. A method, comprising:
applying an oxygen-sensitive agent to a tissue in vitro.
Specification