US Patent 7955483 - CNT glucose sensor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7955483.html

This patent from Honeywell teaches how carbon nanotubes can be useful for the diagnosis of diabetes. Claim 1 reads:


1. A micro-sized biosensor comprising:

a micro-sized substrate;

two or more conductive platforms, in contact with the substrate;

a plurality of carbon nanotubes, in contact with the platforms and bridging the platforms sufficient to form a layer;

a bonding layer, non-continuously positioned on the layer of carbon nanotubes; and

a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) in contact with the bonding layer, the SAM comprising groups of the formula —R—X wherein R is an organic linking moiety containing a fluorophore and X is a binding moiety that, upon interaction with an analyte, gives rise to both a detectable light signal and alters the conductive properties of the plurality of carbon nanotubes, conductive platforms or both in an aqueous environment.