METHOD FOR ESTIMATING DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE

摘要

The present invention relates to a method for estimating a distribution of a sample flowed from a first electrode toward a second electrode of an electrochemical test strip. A working voltage is provided between the first electrode and the second electrode for obtaining a first and a second currents, where a ratio of the first current to the second current is applied to estimate the distribution of the sample on the first and the second electrodes and an effectiveness of a measurement of a target analyte of the sample.

主权项

1. A determining method for a distribution of the target sample in a sensor consisting of a first electrode and a second electrode, each of which is coated with a reagent layer, and a concentration of an analyte in the target sample, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a target sample flowing from the first electrode to the second electrode; (b) immediately providing a switching circuit having a first configuration for applying a first DC voltage with a voltage value across the first electrode and the second electrode for a first duration to make a potential of the first electrode higher than a potential of the second electrode, wherein the first electrode functions as a working electrode to generate a first Cottrell current, the second electrode functions as a counter electrode, and the target sample flows from the working electrode to the counter electrode; (c) removing the first DC voltage for a first removing duration; (d) switching the switching circuit to have a second configuration for applying a second DC voltage with a voltage value across the first electrode and the second electrode for a second duration to make the potential of the second electrode higher than the potential of the first electrode, wherein the second electrode functions as the working electrode to generate a second Cottrell current, the first electrode functions as the counter electrode, and the respective voltage values of the first and the second DC voltages are equal; (e) removing the second DC voltage for a second removing duration; (f) sequentially repeating steps (b) to (e) at least twice; (g) adding up respective values of the first Cottrell currents and respective values of the second Cottrell currents respectively; and (h) obtaining a ratio of a sum of the respective values of the first Cottrell currents over a sum of the respective values of the second Cottrell currents to determine a distribution of the target sample on the first and the second electrodes and the concentration of the analyte in the target sample, whereby the distribution of the target sample is determined as long as a sufficient volume of the target sample is more than 0.45 μL.