RFID-Based Microwave Biosensor for Non-Contact Detection of Glucose Solution

Abstract

Due to the increasing number of diabetic patients, early monitoring of glucose levels is particularly important; therefore, glucose biosensors have attracted enormous attention from researchers. In this paper, we propose a glucose microwave biosensor based on RFID and achieve a non-contact measurement of the concentration of glucose solutions. The Reader is a complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR), and the Tag is comprised of a squared spiral capacitor (SSC). A polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic quantitative cavity with a volume of 1.56 μL is integrated on the Tag to ensure that the glucose solution can be accurately set to the sensitive area and fully contacted with the electromagnetic flux. Because the SSC exhibits different capacitances when it contacts glucose solutions of different concentrations, changing the resonant frequency of the CSRR, we can use the relationship to characterize the biosensing response. Measurement results show that bare CSRR and RFID-based biosensors have achieved sensitivities of 0.31 MHz/mg·dL−1 and 10.27 kHz/mg·dL−1, and detection limits of 13.79 mg/dL and 1.19 mg/dL, respectively, and both realize a response time of less than 1 s. Linear regression analysis of the abovementioned biosensors showed an excellent linear relationship. The proposed design provides a feasible solution for microwave biosensors aiming for the non-contact measurement of glucose concentration.