The miniaturisation of biosensors - microbiosensors has definite advantages over conventional biosensors, various microbiosensors could be integrated to construct multifunctional microbiosensor assays. For continuous real time in vivo measurements, other than small size, the microbiosensors should be useful for easy placement within a blood vessel (i.e. artery for blood gases/pH; vein for glucose/lactate) or under the skin in subcutaneous space (mainly for glucose) and exhibit long-term stability. Enzyme-based amperometric microbiosensors are presently the dominant biosensors for monitoring and detection of biomolecules and have already shown great potentials to be translated into implantable for diseases like diabetes. The synergy between implantable biosensors and nanotechnology is crucial in the areas of miniaturisation and post-implantation inflammation. Since the degree of inflammation is largely dependent on the size of the implanted device, nanotechnology has been used to decrease not only the inflammation but also the size of the implants. Development of this implantable biosensor would require a multidisciplinary team. Indeed, the future development of implantable microbiosensors and devices will require the combination of multidisciplinary areas like chemistry, solid state physics, bioengineering and medicine.

Chapter Contents:

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Microbiosensor technologies
• 7.3 Analyte-specific biosensors
• 7.4 New materials for improving the in vivo stability of implantable microbiosensors
• 7.5 Conclusion and future prospects
• Acknowledgement
• References

Inspec keywords: patient monitoring; enzymes; diseases; prosthetics; nanomedicine; microsensors; nanosensors; skin; chemical sensors; molecular biophysics; biosensors; blood vessels; blood

Other keywords: enzyme-based amperometric microbiosensors; implantable microbiosensors; solid state physics; implanted device; medicine; postimplantation inflammation; in vivo monitoring; multifunctional microbiosensor assays; biomolecule monitoring; implantable biosensors; diabetes; biomolecule detection; bioengineering; skin; gases-pH; nanotechnology; blood vessel; glucose-lactate

Subjects: Microsensors and nanosensors; Biosensors; Prosthetics and orthotics; Prosthetics and other practical applications; Chemical sensors; Chemical sensors; Biosensors; Biomedical measurement and imaging; Biomedical engineering; Nanotechnology applications in biomedicine