Fabrication of Multiple-Channel Electrochemical Microneedle Electrode Array via Separated Functionalization and...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrochemical Sensing
• Implantable Devices

Background:

• Real-time physiological monitoring via implantable electrodes is crucial for diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Current implantable electrochemical electrodes face challenges in small-scale preparation, spatial resolution, and conductivity.
• Invasive glucose monitoring is vital for diabetes management but presents significant patient burden.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel multi-channel electrochemical microneedle electrode arrays (MCEMEAs) to overcome existing limitations.
• To enable sensitive, selective, and reproducible real-time, in situ glucose concentration monitoring.
• To reduce interference and improve functionalization for multi-parameter sensing applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of two-dimensional microneedle (2dMN) and one-dimensional microneedle (1dMN) electrodes using laser patterning.
• Separated functionalization of electrodes via electrochemical deposition and glucose oxidase decoration.
• Assembly of functionalized electrodes into multi-channel electrochemical arrays (MCEAs) to prevent coating damage.

Main Results:

• The developed MCEMEAs demonstrated excellent transdermal capability, detection sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility.
• Successful real-time, in situ monitoring of glucose concentrations was achieved in both in vitro and in vivo studies.
• The separated functionalization and assembly process effectively reduced mutual interference between sensing channels.

Conclusions:

• The novel MCEMEAs offer a promising solution for advanced invasive glucose monitoring.
• This technology can alleviate the burden of self-blood-glucose management for diabetic patients.
• The developed fabrication strategy is suitable for creating high-performance, multi-channel implantable electrochemical sensors.