Synthesis and Development of Poly(N-Hydroxyethyl Acrylamide)-Ran-3-Acrylamidophenylboronic Acid Polymer Fluid for Potential Application in Affinity Sensing of Glucose

Abstract

Background: In previous work, we described viscosity and permittivity microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) using poly[acrylamide- ran-3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (PAA- ran-PAAPBA). In order to enhance our MEMS device antifouling properties, a novel, more hydrophilic polymer-sensing fluid was developed. Method: To optimize sensing performance, we synthesized biocompatible copolymers poly( N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide)- ran-3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (PHEAA- ran-PAAPBA) and developed its sensing fluid for viscosity-based glucose sensing. Key factors such as polymer composition and molecular weight were investigated in order to optimize viscometric responses. Results: Compared with PAA- ran-PAAPBA fluid of a similar binding moiety percentage, PHEAA- ran-PAAPBA showed comparable high binding specificity to glucose in a reversible manner and even better performance in glucose sensing in terms of glucose sensing range (27–468 mg/ml) and sensitivity (within 3% standard error of estimate). Preliminary experiment on a MEMS viscometer demonstrated that the polymer fluid was able to sense the glucose concentration. Conclusions: Our MEMS systems using PHEAA- ran-PAAPBA will possess enhanced implantable traits necessary to enable CGM in subcutaneous tissues.