Integrated Bioelectrodes/Biopolymer-Microneedle Devices for Transdermal Electrochemical Sensing

In this project, we made significant advances in (i) polymer synthesis (the first green synthesis of dextran methacrylate), (ii) the fabrication of dextran microneedles in which electrode integration is enabled by an original wet- and dry-state method, and (iii) demonstrating the beneficial microenvironment of dextran hydrogels on enzymatic glucose biosensors. We successfully realized the first biopolymer hydrogel-based microneedle patches with a fully integrated 2nd generation glucose biosensor for “online” detection in artificial interstitial fluid (ISF) and skin models for more than 10 days. The transdermal biosensor benefitted from the hydrogel for skin perforation and glucose-containing ISF extraction to the embedded electrodes. Cytotoxicity tests highlighted beneficial biocompatibility.