Who Ate All the (Christmas Mince) Pies?

Sally Maclachlan Dezember 3, 2024

The holiday season is upon us, and (over)indulgence is in full swing—our team’s chocolate and mince pie consumption has certainly reached record highs! But it raises a question: when Santa is circling the globe, sampling mince pies and sipping sherry, how does he monitor his blood sugar levels?

The answer lies in continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), which measure glucose concentrations in the interstitial fluid around our cells. These devices work by detecting the small (~µA) currents generated by the reaction of glucose with the glucose oxidase enzyme on a needle sensor. The result? Near-real-time insights into blood sugar levels, empowering both diabetic patients and health-conscious users to make informed decisions.

CGMs have an advantage: glucose levels change relatively slowly. This allows developers to design amplifier circuits with large gain and use averaging techniques to minimize noise while maintaining sensitive measurements.

Faster Signals, Tougher Challenges

But what if your signal of interest changes rapidly—like during proteome measurement? Sanner recently tackled this challenge: measuring multiple channels with currents of less than 500pA, sampled at a blazing 50,000 times per second per channel.

Our solution? A modular system featuring:

  1. Multiple gain stages to achieve precise amplification without sacrificing signal integrity.
  2. Isolated power supplies to minimize interference between components.

By separating the gain stages, we optimized low-noise amplifiers with limited gain-bandwidth products. Meanwhile, the isolated power supplies reduced unwanted crosstalk, ensuring clean and accurate measurements.

Even at the prototype stage, this approach matched the performance of leading products in the market.

Want to know how we can bring this kind of innovation to your medical device? Get in touch today!