Determination of glucose in diluted blood with a thermal flow injection analysis biosensor

The glucose concentration in diluted whole blood has been measured, using a miniaturized thermal biosensor based on the enzyme thermistor principle. The biosensor is a small flow injection system. A sample volume of 20μl is injected into a flow of 50μ1/min. The heat produced when the sample passes the enzyme column is measured with a thermistor connected to a Wheatstone bridge. The enzyme column contains glucose oxidase and catalase co-immobilized on a solid support material. Samples of whole blood usually cause problems in flow-systems. The blood cells tend to block the enzyme column and the back pressure increases. We have tested a supeiporous agarose material as enzyme support material using tenfold diluted samples of whole human blood. The blood was collected from the finger-tip and diluted with buffer containing an anticoagulant and sodium fluoride. The number of samples possible to inject and the accuracy compared to the Boehringer Mannheim Reflolux have been determined. At least 100 ten-fold diluted blood samples could be injected on a micro-column of superporous agarose. The obtained glucose concentration correlated well with the one obtained with the reference instrument.