Anti-biofilm super-hydrophilic gel sensor for saliva glucose monitoring

Accurate detection of saliva glucose levels is crucail for diagnosing diabetes and oral diseases. However, the complex bacterial environment in the oral cavity presents challenges, particularly in reducing sensor sensitivity due to bacterial adhesion. The excellent self-cleaning capabilities of super-hydrophilic materials make them one of the top choices. To surpass the limitations of traditional super-hydrophilic materials, a Spin coating-Plasma treatment-Coprecipitation treatment (SPC) strategy was implemented to develop a super-hydrophilic gel saliva glucose sensor. Surface-initiated polymerization was used to form phenylboric acid hydrogels for glucose binding. A spin-coated transition layer protects the hydrogel, while plasma treatment and co-precipitation methods create a super-hydrophilic surface, providing antibacterial properties. The sensor demonstrated a remarkable ability to reduced bacterial adhesion of the five oral pathogenic bacteria by over 95 %, and significantly inhibited biofilm formation of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus mitis by 95.7 % and 96.7 %, respectively. Its detection limit of 3.04 mg/L meets the requirements for saliva glucose detection. Overall, the development of this super-hydrophilic gel sensor holds great promise for wearable oral monitoring devices, offering new opportunities in healthcare managing and monitoring.