Abstract
The most common complication after implantation of foreign material is infection, leading to implant failure and severe patient discomfort. Smoldering-infections proceed inapparently and might not get verified by radiological diagnostics. Early identification of this type of infection might significantly reduce the rate of complications. Therefore, we manufactured a microsensor strip in a hybrid of thin-film and laminate technology in a wafer-level process. It comprises electrochemical, amperometric microsensors for glucose, oxygen and lactate as well as an integrated reference electrode. Microsensors have been implanted in the mouse dorsal skin fold chamber, which got inoculated with a human-pathogen bacterial strain. A selective signal could be measured for all parameters and time points. The infection led to measurable changes of the wound environment as given by a decrease of the oxygen- as well as the glucose-concentration while the lactate concentration increased markedly over time. The given results in this study are the first hints on a promising new tool and should therefore be interpreted as a proof of the principle to show the functionality of the microsensors in an in vivo setting. These microsensors could be used to monitor smoldering infections of implantable foreign materials reducing foreign implant associated complications.
Author Statement
Research funding: This study has been funded by the research-funding program (FORuM) of the medical faculty of the Ruhr-University Bochum as a pilot project.
Conflict of interest: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable
Ethical approval: The experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany (approval code 84-02.04.2012.A321).
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