Smarter Biosensors Abbott’s Dual Enzyme Analyte Detection System

Abbott Diabetes Care Inc. has filed a patent for an analyte sensor featuring a novel dual enzyme system in its active detection area – an architectural approach that enhances the sensor’s ability to detect specific analytes with greater accuracy or additional analytical capability compared to conventional single-enzyme sensors.

The Problem

Analyte sensors – devices that measure the concentration of specific chemical substances in biological fluids – are central to modern diabetes management and an expanding range of other medical monitoring applications. Continuous glucose monitoring sensors, the most widely deployed class of analyte sensors, work by using an enzyme (glucose oxidase or glucose dehydrogenase) to catalyse a reaction with glucose in the interstitial fluid, generating an electrical signal proportional to the glucose concentration.

Single-enzyme sensor designs have proven highly effective for glucose monitoring, but they face inherent limitations. Using a single enzyme system means the sensor’s analytical capability is constrained by the properties of that enzyme – its specificity, its stability over the sensor’s wear lifetime, its susceptibility to interference from other molecules, and its ability to function accurately across the full range of analyte concentrations the sensor must measure. Sensors deployed continuously for days or weeks must maintain accuracy as the enzyme ages, as the surrounding tissue changes and as the patient’s physiology varies.

For analytes beyond glucose, single-enzyme approaches may be entirely insufficient. Some analytes require multi-step enzymatic reactions to generate a detectable electrochemical signal; others may need one enzyme for detection and another for signal amplification or interference reduction. The design space for improved analyte sensor performance includes both architectural changes to how the active area is organised and the selection of specific enzyme combinations that can deliver capabilities a single enzyme cannot.

What This Invention Does

Abbott Diabetes Care’s invention features an analyte sensor in which the analyte-responsive active area contains two or more enzyme systems working together to detect the target analyte. By incorporating multiple enzyme systems in the active area, the sensor can leverage the complementary capabilities of different enzymatic approaches to achieve detection performance that goes beyond what a single enzyme system can provide.

The specific configuration of the dual enzyme systems and their interaction within the active area are central to the invention’s novelty. The two enzyme systems may work in sequence – where the first enzyme produces a product that the second enzyme acts upon – or they may operate in parallel roles such as detection and interference management. The arrangement allows the sensor to be tuned for specific analyte detection requirements, including accuracy across a wide concentration range, reduced susceptibility to interfering substances, extended operational lifetime, or detection of analytes that require multi-step enzymatic conversion.

The invention also covers the methods for using these sensors to detect analytes, acknowledging that the value of the sensing architecture is realised in clinical practice rather than just in laboratory characterisation. The breadth of the application – directed at detecting “various analytes” rather than being limited to glucose – reflects Abbott’s interest in extending its sensor technology platform beyond its current primary application.

Key Features

Dual enzyme active area. The analyte-responsive active area of the sensor contains two or more distinct enzyme systems, enabling detection capabilities beyond what a single-enzyme design can achieve.

Multi-enzyme system cooperation. The two enzyme systems work together within the active area – whether sequentially, in parallel or in complementary roles – to provide enhanced analyte detection performance.

Broad analyte applicability. The sensor design is described as applicable to detecting “various analytes,” indicating the invention is intended as a platform technology relevant to multiple sensing applications rather than being specific to glucose alone.

Indwelling sensor compatibility. The sensor architecture is consistent with Abbott’s continuous monitoring platform, suggesting the dual enzyme approach is compatible with sensors designed for extended continuous wear in interstitial fluid.

Methods of detection coverage. The patent covers not just the sensor design but also the methods for using the dual enzyme sensor to detect analytes, providing end-to-end intellectual property protection for the technology.

Who Is Behind It?

Abbott Diabetes Care Inc. is the diabetes care division of Abbott Laboratories, and the maker of the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system – one of the most widely used CGM platforms in the world. The inventors Benjamin J. Feldman and Zenghe Liu bring expertise in electrochemistry, biosensor design and materials science. The application is filed through FPA Patent Attorneys and is a divisional of an earlier filing (AU 2022205038), indicating an ongoing programme of advanced sensor architecture development.

Why It Matters

The global continuous glucose monitoring market has grown dramatically over the past decade, driven by compelling clinical evidence, expanding insurance coverage and the development of increasingly user-friendly devices. Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre system, in particular, has been instrumental in broadening CGM adoption beyond insulin-using patients to a much wider population of people with diabetes. As the technology matures, competition increasingly turns on sensor accuracy, wear duration, reliability and – importantly – the ability to expand the range of clinically useful measurements beyond glucose alone.

A dual enzyme sensor architecture that can improve detection accuracy or extend the range of measurable analytes is therefore strategically significant for Abbott’s competitive position in the biosensor market. Beyond diabetes monitoring, the broader applicability of multi-enzyme sensor systems could open pathways to monitoring other metabolic markers – lactate, ketones, creatinine and others – with the same continuous, non-invasive architecture that has made CGM so clinically impactful. This type of platform expansion represents one of the most promising frontiers in digital health technology.

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AU 2026201605 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 19 March 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.