SENSOR FOR MONITORING OF ETHANOL
First Claim
1. A fuel cell based sensing device for continuously detecting the concentration of ethanol vapor in a sample, comprising:
- a sensor unit comprising a working electrode as an anode, a counter electrode as a cathode, a reference electrode, and a polymer electrolyte membrane, the anode and the cathode being separated by, and respectively in electrical contact with, the electrolyte, the reference electrode being in electrical contact with the electrolyte and disposed adjacent to, though separated from, the counter electrode;
circuitry capable of controlling the potential applied to the sensor unit; and
circuitry capable of measuring the current output of the sensor unit;
wherein the sensor is capable of separating signals produced by ethanol from those produced by background humidity.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The subject invention provides devices, and methods of making and using the same, for the non-invasive detection of ethanol in a sample. In specific embodiments, the fuel cell based ethanol detector of the subject invention is capable of measuring the concentration of ethanol vapor in the presence of water vapor, which is known to confound signal readings in conventional detectors. Advantageously, the electrochemical sensors provided herein are highly stable and accurate, especially suitable for low-cost, continuous monitoring of ethanol content in transdermal perspiration samples.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A fuel cell based sensing device for continuously detecting the concentration of ethanol vapor in a sample, comprising:
-
a sensor unit comprising a working electrode as an anode, a counter electrode as a cathode, a reference electrode, and a polymer electrolyte membrane, the anode and the cathode being separated by, and respectively in electrical contact with, the electrolyte, the reference electrode being in electrical contact with the electrolyte and disposed adjacent to, though separated from, the counter electrode; circuitry capable of controlling the potential applied to the sensor unit; and circuitry capable of measuring the current output of the sensor unit; wherein the sensor is capable of separating signals produced by ethanol from those produced by background humidity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of continuously detecting the concentration of ethanol vapor in a skin perspiration sample collected from a human subject, the method comprising:
-
contacting a sample, the sample optionally comprising water vapor, with a fuel cell based sensing device comprising a sensor unit comprising a working electrode as an anode, a counter electrode as a cathode, a reference electrode, and a polymer electrolyte membrane, the anode and the cathode being separated by, and respectively in electrical contact with, the electrolyte, the reference electrode being in electrical contact with the electrolyte and disposed adjacent to, though separated from, the counter electrode; circuitry capable of controlling the potential applied to the sensor unit; and
circuitry capable of measuring the current output of the sensor unit, wherein the sensor is capable of separating signals produced by ethanol from those produced by background humidity, and wherein the electrodes comprise a material selected from iron, gold, platinum, carbon, and one or more of these materials combined;obtaining and storing the open-circuit potential (OCP) of the sensor unit by scanning a first range of voltage across the sensor; comparing the OCP to a threshold value characteristic to the material employed in the working electrode; and applying the OCP across the working and the reference electrodes while conducting a series of amperometric measurements; wherein, if the OCP is less than the threshold value, the amperometric data are fitted against a pre-determined calibration curve to remove the signals arising from humidity in the surrounding environment and the concentration of ethanol is subsequently determined; and if the OCP is greater than the threshold value, the concentration of ethanol is directly determined based on the amperometric data. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A device for measuring blood alcohol content (BAC) in a skin perspiration sample collected from a human subject, comprising:
-
a fuel cell based sensing device comprising a sensor unit comprising a working electrode as an anode, a counter electrode as a cathode, a reference electrode, and a polymer electrolyte membrane, the anode and the cathode being separated by, and respectively in electrical contact with, the electrolyte, the reference electrode being in electrical contact with the electrolyte and disposed adjacent to, though separated from, the counter electrode;
circuitry capable of controlling the potential applied to the sensor unit; and
circuitry capable of measuring the current output of the sensor unit, wherein the sensor is capable of separating signals produced by ethanol from those produced by background humidity, and wherein the electrodes comprise a material selected from iron, gold, platinum, carbon, and one or more of these materials combined ;a means of displaying the ethanol concentration measured with the sensing device; and circuitry capable of processing and analyzing the ethanol concentration data output by the sensing device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification