A preliminary electrochemical study of crosslinked albumin and collagen membranes as diffusion barriers for potentially degradable chronic wound biosensors

Abstract

AbstractThe biochemical monitoring of chronic wounds may help to tailor therapy with better clinical outcomes. Wound surface sensors would be appropriate for this, but their adhesion to the wound is likely to lead to tissue damage on retrieval. Degradable sensors offer a practical solution to this, but this would necessitate external degradable diffusion control membranes. In this study, we evaluated glutaraldehyde crosslinked albumen and collagen as potentially biodegradable barrier membranes. The diffusional transport of H2O2, ascorbate, and glucose was studied electrochemically. Albumin proved more selective for H2O2 against ascorbate, possibly due to its net negative charge. The thick (500–700 μm) membranes produced led to long response times (half‐life [t0.5], 500–700 s) but had the advantage of stabilizing the response in unstirred solution. This was possibly because the thicker membrane on the electrode surface moved the developing diffusion layer in solution further away from the electrode surface. A dense albumin layer was produced using sebacoyl chloride as a crosslinker which was impermeable to solute and could be used in future as a degradable sensor base. Also, non‐toxic poly(2,3‐dihydrothieno‐1,4‐dioxin)‐poly(styrenesulfonate) dispersed in crosslinked albumin furnished a conducting membrane able to function as a working electrode. Thus, crosslinked proteins offer scope for diverse membrane properties that might be useful for future, degradable wound monitoring sensors.