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Method of and system for stabilization of sensorsMethod of and system for stabilization of sensors description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070173712, Method of and system for stabilization of sensors. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001]Embodiments of this invention relate generally to methods and systems for stabilization of sensors during initial use of the sensors. More particularly, embodiments of this invention relate to systems and methods for providing an efficient way to stabilize the sensor in order for the sensor to provide accurate readings of a physiological condition of a subject. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART [0002]Subjects and medical personnel wish to monitor readings of physiological conditions within the subject's body. Illustratively, subjects wish to monitor blood glucose levels in a subject's body on a continuing basis. Presently, a patient can measure his/her blood glucose (BG) using a BG measurement device, such as a test strip meter, a continuous glucose measurement system, or a hospital hemacue. BG measurement devices use various methods to measure the BG level of a patient, such as a sample of the patient's blood, a sensor in contact with a bodily fluid, an optical sensor, an enzymatic sensor, or a fluorescent sensor. When the BG measurement device has generated a BG measurement, the measurement is displayed on the BG measurement device. [0003]Current continuous glucose measurement systems include subcutaneous (or short-term) sensors and implantable (or long-term) sensors. For each of the short-term sensors and the long-term sensors, a patient has to wait a certain amount of time in order for thee continuous glucose sensor to stabilize and to provide accurate readings. In many continuous glucose sensors, the subject must wait three hours for the continuous glucose sensor to stabilize before any glucose measurements are utilized. This is an inconvenience for the patient and in some cases may cause the patient not to utilize a continuous glucose measurement system. [0004]Further, when a glucose sensor is first inserted into a patient's skin or subcutaneous layer, the glucose sensor does not operate in a stable state. The electrical readings from the sensor, which represent the glucose level of the patient, vary over a wide range of readings. In the past, sensor stabilization used to take several hours. A technique for sensor stabilization is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,653, ("the '653 patent") application Ser. No. 09/465,715, filed Dec. 19, 1999, issued Oct. 26, 2004, to Mann et al., assigned to Medtronic Minimed, Inc., which is incorporated herein by reference. In the '653 patent, the initialization process for sensor stabilization may be reduced to approximately one hour. A high voltage (e.g., 1.0-1.2 volts) may be applied for 1 to 2 minutes to allow the sensor to stabilize and then a low voltage (e.g., between 0.5-0.6 volts) may be applied for the remainder of the initialization process (e.g., 58 minutes or so). Thus, even with this procedure, sensor stabilization still requires a large amount of time. [0005]It is also desirable to allow electrodes of the sensor to be sufficiently "wetted" or hydrated before utilization of the electrodes of the sensor. If the electrodes of the sensor are not sufficiently hydrated, the result may be inaccurate readings of the patient's physiological condition. A user of current blood glucose sensors is instructed to not power up the sensors immediately. If they are utilized too early, current blood glucose sensors do not operate in an optimal or efficient fashion. No automatic procedure or measuring technique is utilized to determine when to power on the sensor. This manual process is inconvenient and places too much responsibility on the patient, who may forget to apply or turn on the power source. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006]In an embodiment of the invention, a sensor is stabilized by applying a first voltage for a first time to initiate an anodic cycle in the sensor, by applying a second voltage for a second time to initiate a cathodic cycle in the sensor, and repeating the application of the first voltage and the second voltage to continue the anodic-cathodic cycle in the sensor. In an embodiment of the invention, a sensor may be stabilized by applying a first voltage for a first time, by waiting a predetermined period of time (i.e., not applying a voltage), and then cycling between the application of the first voltage and the waiting of a predetermined period of time for a number of iterations or a stabilization timeframe. [0007]By utilizing the stabilization sequence identified above, the sensor has a faster run-in time, less background current exists in the sensor (due to suppression of background current, and the sensor has better glucose response. The first voltage may have a positive value or a negative value. The second voltage may have a positive value or negative value. Under certain operating conditions, a voltage magnitude of the first voltage for one of the iterations may have a different magnitude from a voltage magnitude of the first voltage for a second or different iteration. [0008]In an embodiment of the invention, a voltage waveform, such as a ramp waveform, a stepped waveform, a sinusoid waveform, and a squarewave waveform, may be applied as the first voltage. Any of the above mentioned waveforms may also be applied as the second voltage. Under certain operating conditions, the voltage waveform applied as the first voltage in a first iteration of the stabilization method may differ from the voltage waveform applied as the first voltage in the second iteration. The same may hold true for the application of the second voltage. Under certain operating conditions, a voltage waveform may be applied as the first voltage to the sensor and a voltage pulse may be applied as the second voltage to the sensor. [0009]In an embodiment of the invention, a plurality of short duration voltage pulses are applied for the first timeframe to initiate the anodic cycle in the sensor. In this embodiment, a plurality of short duration voltage pulses may be applied for the second timeframe to initiate the cathodic cycle in the sensor. The magnitude of the first plurality of short duration pulses may be different from the magnitude of the second plurality of short duration pulses. In an embodiment of the invention, the magnitude of some of the pulses in the first plurality of short duration pulses may have different values from the magnitude of other pulses in the first plurality of short duration pulses. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010]A detailed description of embodiments of the invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate corresponding parts in the figures. [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a subcutaneous sensor insertion set and block diagram of a sensor electronics device according to an embodiment of the invention; [0012]FIG. 2(a) illustrates a substrate having two sides, a first side which contains an electrode configuration and a second side which contains electronic circuitry; [0013]FIG. 2(b) illustrates a general block diagram of an electronic circuit for sensing an output of a sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention; [0014]FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a sensor electronics device and a sensor including a plurality of electrodes according to an embodiment of the invention; [0015]FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention including a sensor and a sensor electronics device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [0016]FIG. 5 illustrates an electronic block diagram of the sensor electrodes and a voltage being applied to the sensor electrodes according to an embodiment of the present invention; [0017]FIG. 6(a) illustrates a method of applying pulses during stabilization timeframe in order to reduce the stabilization timeframe according to an embodiment of the present invention; [0018]FIG. 6(b) illustrates a method of stabilizing sensors according to an embodiment of the present invention; [0019]FIG. 6(c) illustrates utilization of feedback in stabilizing the sensors according to an embodiment of the present invention; [0020]FIG. 7 illustrates an effect of stabilizing a sensor according to an embodiment of the invention; Continue reading about Method of and system for stabilization of sensors... Full patent description for Method of and system for stabilization of sensors Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Method of and system for stabilization of sensors patent application. Patent Applications in related categories: 20090292189 - Analyte monitoring device and methods of use - An analyte monitor includes a sensor, a sensor control unit, and a display unit. The sensor has, for example, a substrate, a recessed channel formed in the substrate, and conductive material disposed in the recessed channel to form a working electrode. The sensor control unit typically has a housing adapted ... ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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