Biosensors – A whole new level of advanced medical technology
A biosensor is an analytical device which is mainly used for the detection of a chemical substance in sensitive biological elements like tissues, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids. Development of biosensor has acquired paramount importance and has brought huge advancements in the area of the medical technology which leads to the invention of various precise and powerful analytical tools. Biosensors work on the basis of signal transduction, the detector which transforms one signal into another. Biosensor captures the biological signal and transforms it into an electrical signal. Biosensors can be used in the detection of a broad spectrum in various fields. In the medical field, it helps in the detection of various processes like antibody-antigen interaction, enzyme catalyst reactions, detection of limits of glucose in the body, microbial infections, detection of tumor development, pathogens and toxins, etc.
The first ever biosensor was developed by Leland C. Clark, Jr in 1956 for the detection of oxygen. After that various advancements have been done in biosensors.
A new approach for embedding sensors in the medical devices has been disclosed by inventor Bruce Reiner in his patent application number US20170231573A1 titled as “Method and apparatus for embedded sensors in diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices”. The patent discloses miniature biosensor technology which can be directly embedded into medical device technology to create a new category of multi-functional smart medical devices. The smart medical devices can record critical information about the patient using these biosensors and transmit that information to the associated computing device using a wireless network. The recorded information is used for the creation of best practice guidelines, clinical decision support tools, personalized medicine applications, and comparative technology assessment.
In the representative image, the patent application discloses a smart medical device including a venous catheter with embedded biosensors in its outer and inner walls and catheter tips. The multiple biosensors at the outer wall and inner wall are labeled as 101 and 102 to create a multi-sensing framework. The miniaturized biosensors do not affect the device’s functionality and/or structural integrity. These biosensors are capable of storing critical information in the memory of a computer device by transmitting it through a wireless communication interface from the smart medical device. The biosensors embedded in the Smart medical device include diagnostic sensors as well as therapeutic sensors. The diagnostic sensors will record the data according to the structural integrity of the biosensor and the therapeutic sensor will record the data according to the contents of a reservoir containing a therapeutic drug or composition. The recorded data will then be transmitted to the computing device wirelessly.
Therefore, a smart medical device can be created by the integration of multiple biosensors (example; diagnostic and therapeutic sensor) for recording the information into the device real-time and wirelessly for fast forwarding and accurately creating best practice guidelines, clinical decision support tools, personalized medicine applications, and comparative technology assessment.