Abstract-The development of a long-term wireless implantable biosensor based on fluorescence intensity measurement poses a number of technical challenges, ranging from biocompatibility to sensor stability over time. One of these challenges is the design of a power efficient and miniaturized electronics, enabling the biosensor to move from bench testing to long term validation, up to its final application in human beings. In this spirit, we present a wireless programmable electronic platform for implantable chronic monitoring of fluorescent-based autonomous biosensors. This system is able to achieve extremely low power operation with bidirectional telemetry, based on the IEEE802.15.4-2003 protocol, thus enabling over three-year battery lifetime and wireless networking of multiple sensors. During the performance of single fluorescent-based sensor measurements, the circuit drives a laser diode, for sensor excitation, and acquires the amplified signals from four different photodetectors. In vitro functionality was preliminarily tested for both glucose and calcium monitoring, simply by changing the analyte-binding protein of the biosensor. Electronics performance was assessed in terms of timing, power consumption, tissue exposure to electromagnetic fields, and in vivo wireless connectivity. The final goal of the presented platform is to be integrated in a complete system for blood glucose level monitoring that may be implanted for at least one year under the skin of diabetic patients. Results reported in this paper may be applied to a wide variety of biosensors based on fluorescence intensity measurement.Index Terms-Biotelemetry, calcium sensing, chronic implants, fluorescence-based biosensor, fluorescence resonant energy transfer (FRET), glucose monitoring, implantable devices.

A wireless programmable electronic platform for implantable monitoring of blood glucose level (BGL) was developed and preliminary tested on bench. This system allows extremely low power bidirectional telemetry, based on the IEEE802.15.4-2003 protocol, thus enabling typical battery lifetime up to six months and wireless networking of multiple sensors. During a single BGL measurement, the circuit drives a laser diode, for sensor excitation, and acquires the amplified signals coming from four different photodetectors. The electronics is designed to be integrated in a complete system for BGL monitoring to be implanted for at least six months under the skin of diabetic patients

We present a new optical biosensor concept based on hydrogel waveguides with integrated fluorescent proteins developed as a platform for implantable sensors. In this prototype the sensor detects the presence or absence of calcium through changes in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) induced by conformational changes of a FRET protein. The protein is immobilized in a synthetic hydrogel matrix with cylindrical shape, which serves simultaneously as an optical waveguide for the excitation light. The specificity of the protein determines which molecule can be detected

This article reports the full characterisation of the optical properties of a biosynthesised protein consisting of fused cyan fluorescent protein, glucose binding protein and yellow fluorescent protein. The cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins act as donors and acceptors for intramolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Absorption, fluorescence, excitation and fluorescence decays of the compound protein were measured and compared with those of free fluorescent proteins. Signatures of energy transfer were identified in the spectral intensities and fluorescence decays. A model describing the fluorescence properties including energy transfer in terms of rate equations is presented and all relevant parameters are extracted from the measurements. The compound protein changes conformation on binding with calcium ions. This is reflected in a change of energy transfer efficiency between the fluorescent proteins. We track the conformational change and the kinetics of the calcium binding reaction from fluorescence intensity and decay measurements and interpret the results in light of the rate equation model. This visualisation of change in protein conformation has the potential to serve as an analytical tool in the study of protein structure changes in real time, in the development of biosensor proteins and in characterizing protein-drug interactions.