Detection of contamination at sensor contacts
First Claim
1. An electronics assembly comprising:
- a hermetic housing;
a sensor contact disposed on an exterior surface of the housing, and configured to receive a sensor signal from a sensor assembly when the sensor assembly is coupled to the electronics assembly, the sensor signal being representative of a level of an analyte in a body;
a processor coupled to the sensor contact and configured to receive the sensor signal;
an open detection contact disposed on the exterior surface of the housing that is not couplable to any contact on the sensor assembly and is configured to detect a leakage current between the sensor contact and the open detection contact due to contamination at or near the sensor contact; and
a switch coupled to the detection contact, controlled by the processor, and configured to couple the detection contact to a bias voltage during a measurement mode and to couple the detection contact to a reference voltage during a detection mode, the reference voltage being different from the bias voltage,wherein the processor is configured to periodically switch from the measurement mode to the detection mode and measure a first value of the sensor signal during the measurement mode and a second value of the sensor signal during the detection mode to detect a leakage current of the sensor signal, wherein if the difference between the first value and the second value is greater than a threshold amount, the processor identifies that there is a leakage current present.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments herein provide detection of contamination at one or more contacts of a sensor system. The sensor system includes a sensor assembly and an electronics assembly communicatively coupled together by one or more contacts. The sensor assembly passes a sensor signal to the electronics assembly for further processing. The electronics assembly includes a detection contact for detecting contamination on or near one or more contacts of the sensor assembly and/or the electronics assembly. A switch selectively couples the detection contact to a bias voltage during a measurement mode and to a reference voltage during a detection mode, the reference voltage being different from the bias voltage. A method of contamination detection includes switching the electronics assembly between the measurement mode and the detection mode, and monitoring for a change in the output signal received by the electronics assembly.
19 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An electronics assembly comprising:
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a hermetic housing; a sensor contact disposed on an exterior surface of the housing, and configured to receive a sensor signal from a sensor assembly when the sensor assembly is coupled to the electronics assembly, the sensor signal being representative of a level of an analyte in a body; a processor coupled to the sensor contact and configured to receive the sensor signal; an open detection contact disposed on the exterior surface of the housing that is not couplable to any contact on the sensor assembly and is configured to detect a leakage current between the sensor contact and the open detection contact due to contamination at or near the sensor contact; and a switch coupled to the detection contact, controlled by the processor, and configured to couple the detection contact to a bias voltage during a measurement mode and to couple the detection contact to a reference voltage during a detection mode, the reference voltage being different from the bias voltage, wherein the processor is configured to periodically switch from the measurement mode to the detection mode and measure a first value of the sensor signal during the measurement mode and a second value of the sensor signal during the detection mode to detect a leakage current of the sensor signal, wherein if the difference between the first value and the second value is greater than a threshold amount, the processor identifies that there is a leakage current present. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An analyte sensor system, comprising:
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a sensor assembly including; a first sensor contact; a first ground contact; and an analyte sensor coupled to the first sensor contact and the first ground contact, the analyte sensor configured to produce a sensor signal at the first sensor contact that is representative of a level of an analyte in a body; and an electronics assembly that reversibly couples to the sensor assembly, the electronics assembly including; a hermetic housing a second sensor contact disposed on an exterior surface of the housing and configured to be coupled with the first sensor contact to receive the sensor signal; a second ground contact disposed on the exterior surface of the housing and coupled to the first ground contact and to a ground potential; a processor coupled to the second sensor contact and configured to receive the sensor signal; an open detection contact disposed on the exterior surface of the housing that is not couplable to any contact of the sensor assembly and is configured to detect a leakage current between the sensor contact and the open detection contact due to contamination at or near the sensor contact; and a switch coupled to the detection contact and controlled by the processor, the switch configured to couple the detection contact to a bias voltage during a measurement mode and to couple the detection contact to a reference voltage during a detection mode, the reference voltage being different from the bias voltage, wherein the processor is configured to periodically switch from the measurement mode to the detection mode and measure a first value of the sensor signal during the measurement mode and a second value of the sensor signal during the detection mode to detect a leakage current of the sensor signal, wherein if the difference between the first value and the second value is greater than a threshold amount, the processor identifies that there is a leakage current present. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification