Methods and devices for determining sensing device usability

• US 9,594,046 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2016
• Issued: 03/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Abbott Point Of Care Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Abbott Point Of Care Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Martin, Glenn, Wang, Yi, Tonks, Simon, Feldman, Benjamin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Assouad, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhang, Haidong
• Application Number:
  US15/203,020
• Publication Number:
  US 20160313273A1
• Time in Patent Office: 251 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/048 for determining moisture content of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/3272 Test elements therefor, i.e. disposable laminated substrates with electrodes, reagent and channels optical biosensors G01N33/52
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/3274 Corrective measures, e.g. error detection, compensation for temperature or hematocrit, calibration coding of calibration information G01N33/48771
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 35/005 Calibrating; Standards or reference devices, e.g. voltage or resistance standards, "golden" references G01R33/0035, G01R35/002 take precedence

Abstract

Methods and devices for determining sensing device usability, e.g., for self-monitoring and point of care devices. In one embodiment, the invention is to a method of determining device usability, comprising the steps of providing a device comprising a first electrical pad; a second electrical pad; and a humidity-responsive polymer layer contacting at least a portion of the first and second electrical pads; applying a potential across the first and second electrical pads; measuring an electrical property associated with the humidity-responsive polymer layer; and determining whether the measured electrical property associated with the humidity-responsive polymer layer has exceeded a humidity threshold level associated with the device usability.

Claims

1. A test strip comprising an integrated humidity detector, the test strip including:

a glucose sensing electrode connected by a first conductive line to a first electrical contact pad;

a reference electrode connected by a second conductive line to a second electrical contact pad; and

a polymer layer that is responsive to humidity, which contacts at least a portion of the first and the second conductive lines,

wherein the polymer layer is selected from the group consisting of a crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a crosslinked polymer containing nitrogen heterocyclic groups, and combinations thereof.

2. The test strip of claim 1, wherein the polymer layer has an electrical property associated with a usability threshold of the test strip.

3. The test strip of claim 1, wherein the test strip is substantially planar.

4. A test strip comprising an integrated humidity detector for testing one or more analytes, the test strip including:

a strip with an analyte sensing electrode connected by a first conductive line to a first contact pad and a reference electrode connected by a second conductive line to a second contact pad; and

a polymer layer responsive to humidity positioned on the test strip, which contacts at least a portion of the first and the second conductive lines, wherein the polymer layer has an electrical property associated with a usability threshold of the test strip,

wherein the polymer layer is selected from the group consisting of a crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a crosslinked polymer containing nitrogen heterocyclic groups, and combinations thereof.

5. The test strip of claim 4, wherein the strip is substantially planar.

6. The test strip of claim 4, wherein the electrical property is an open circuit resistance and the usability threshold is associated with a mean relative humidity that is calculated from the open circuit resistance.

7. The test strip of claim 4, wherein the one or more analytes comprise glucose, ketones, or a combination thereof.