Optical determination of glucose utilizing boronic acid adducts

Abstract

The present invention concerns an improved optical method and optical sensing device for determining the levels of polyhydroxyl-substituted organic molecules in vitro and/or in vivo in aqueous media. The range of detection is between about 400 and 800 nm. In particular, a sensory devise is implemented in a mammal to determine sugar levels. Specifically, a dye is combined with a conjugated nitrogen-containing heterocyclic aromatic boronic acid-substituted bis-onium compound in the presence of a sugar, such as fructose or glucose. The viologens are preferred as the aromatic conjugated nitrogen-containing boronic acid substituted compounds. The method is useful to determine sugar levels in a human being.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for optically determining the concentration of glucose in vivo, the method comprising:
 providing an glucose sensor comprising:
 a glucose permeable component; 
 a fluorophore associated with the glucose permeable component and configured to absorb light at a first wavelength and emit light at a second wavelength, 
 a glucose binding moiety associated with the glucose permeable component and configured to modify the light emitted by the fluorophore by an amount related to the amount of glucose binding; 
   implanting the sensor in tissue;   applying light to the sensor;   detecting emitted light; and   determining the concentration of glucose.   
     
     
         2 . The method of Claim  1 , wherein the glucose permeable component comprises a polymer matrix. 
     
     
         3 . The method of Claim  2 , wherein the polymer matrix is a hydrogel. 
     
     
         4 . The method of Claim  2 , wherein the polymer matrix is insoluble in water. 
     
     
         5 . The method of Claim  1 , wherein the fluorophore comprises a substituted pyrene. 
     
     
         6 . The method of Claim  5 , wherein the substituted pyrene comprises a pyranine sulfonate derivative. 
     
     
         7 . The method of Claim  1 , wherein the glucose binding moiety comprises a boronic acid substituted viologen. 
     
     
         8 . The method of Claim  7 , wherein the boronic acid substituted viologen further comprises an aromatic boronic acid moiety. 
     
     
         9 . The method of Claim  1 , wherein the glucose binding moiety is further configured to reduce the light emitted by the fluorophore by an amount inversely related to the amount of glucose binding.