Abstract
A continuous flow system for the determination of glucose in blood or plasma using glucose oxidase is described. Oxygen uptake is measured by a Clarke electrode linked through an oxygen monitor and pH meter to a recorder. The omission of a peroxidase-chromogen step increases the specificity of the assay which gives very good correlation with the hexokinase-NADPH method.
The system has a high sensitivity which can be adjusted by changing the oxygen-nitrogen ratio of the segmenting gas. It is useful when measuring ‘true glucose’ in low concentration and gives a linear response within the range 0 to 200 mg/100 ml. The electrode response time limits the rate of analysis to 30 samples per hour if adequate precision is to be maintained.
The advantages of a closed continuous flow system over manual electrometric methods are discussed.