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Monocrystalline antimony catheter electrodes were studied intra-arterially in non-heparinized dogs. The sensitivity for variations in arterial PO2 (PaO2) was evaluated for this kind of metal-metal oxide pH sensor. The influence of PaO2 compensation on a previous pH sensitivity estimate was calculated. When the mV signal from the antimony sensor, after compensation for pH and temperature variations, was expressed as a function of log10 PaO2, a non-linear relation was found for the PaO2 range studied, 2.9-50 kPa. After calculations this range was divided into a lower and a higher sub-range. A first-order linear approximation was applied for these subranges. The sensitivity for oxygen was 70 mV/log10 PaO2 in the range 2.9kPa less than PaO2 less than 10 kPa, and 20.7 mV/log10 PaO2 in the range 10 kPA less than PaO2 less than 50 kPa. The non-logarithmic sensitivity for intra-arterial oxygen is contradictory to results from in vitro studies in test solutions. The present study indicates that the monocrystalline antimony pH sensor has a sensitivity for PaO2 variations which is closely correlated to the haemoglobin-oxygen dissociation function. When compensation for PaO2 variations was performed on an earlier evaluated study over a wide pH range but limited PaO2 range, the pH sensitivity previously found was not influenced.

The membranes of the pO2 sensor in a conventional blood gas analyser and a commercially available catheter pO2 electrode were coated with a glutardialdehyde stabilized heparin layer. It was analysed whether or not the "non-thrombogenic" heparin surface could improve the accuracy of in vitro pO2 registration and continuous in vivo paO2 monitoring. The in vivo experiments were performed on anaesthetized and non-anticoagulated dogs. Two identical blood gas analysers were used, one furnished with a heparin coated pO2 membrane and the other with a standard pO2 membrane. In vitro pO2 determinations exhibited--when simultaneously analysing the same blood sample--identical mean values. For repeated pO2 determinations, however, the standard deviation was significantly lower on the analyser furnished with a heparinized membrane. The non-heparinized catheter pO2 electrode showed a marked deterioration in accuracy with time as compared with blood-gas analysis on reference blood samples. Falsely low paO2 values were presented. The heparinized catheter electrode monitored values in full agreement with those of the conventional blood gas analyser using standard membranes. It is concluded that the heparin surface on the oxygen diffusible membranes diminishes the variability of the diffusion characteristics both at contact with anticoagulated blood in vitro and during in vivo paO2 monitoring. The "non-thrombogenic" heparin surface prevents diffusion impeding clot formations when an arterial catheter pO2 sensor is used.

Surface-heparinized catheter PO2 electrodes were used for continuous intra-arterial monitoring in non-heparinized dogs. During one-day experiments the read-out of the electrode monitoring unit was compared with that of conventional blood gas analysis. Furthermore, the electrodes were studied after long-term implantation. The intra-arterial PO2 electrodes have previously been reported to be linear in the gas phase, water phase and in heparinized blood. The present study demonstrates that the catheter electrodes remain linear after surface heparinization. As compared with the conventional blood gas analysis it was found that the desk analyser in the range PaO2 greater than 18 kPa underestimated the actual PaO2 as compared to the invasively monitored PaO2, but in the range below 7 kPa the desk analyser overestimated the PaO2. Surface-heparinized PO2 catheter electrodes were studied after up to 23 days of implantation. No coagulation phenomenon was found around the catheters, neither macroscopically nor by scanning electron microscopy. The electrical function withstood 7 days of implantation. After more extended periods the electrical leads were broken without any damage to the catheter itself. When compared with acutely implanted surface-heparinized electrodes, there was no difference in monitoring characteristics between the acutely implanted and the long-term implanted PO2 electrodes.

Monocrystalline micro antimony electrodes in a multipoint arrangement as described by Lund et al. were placed on the skeletal muscle surface of the rabbit. Tissue oxygen levels were measured simultaneously with the MDO (Mehrdraht Dortmund Oberfläche) oxygen electrode. The sensitivity for variations in tissue PO2 (PO2(t)) was evaluated for the antimony metal-metal oxide sensor. The sensitivity (delta E/delta log10 PO2)+/- SE was found to be 21.8 +/- 1.2 mV in the interval between 0.1 kPa and 1 kPa and 53 +/- 5 mV in the interval between 1 kPa and 6 kPa. These results are not consistent with the oxygen sensitivity of monocrystalline antimony described in vitro, but are in agreement with the findings of Nilsson & Edwall. A plausible explanation for the S-shaped oxygen sensitivity curve of antimony at oxygen levels below 10 kPa could be an interaction, at the electrode surface, between the dissolved oxygen and the oxygen bound to haemoglobin. If this is the case, the use of an antimony electrode would make possible the determination of the dissociation of oxyhaemoglobin in tissues.