New
Technique for A Noninvasive Glucose Sensor…The
Eyes Have It!
Sensor worn as a contact lens which, changes colors
according to blood sugars.
Millions of people suffering from diabetes mellitus
may be spared the ordeal of pricking their fingers
several times a day to test blood sugar levels, thanks
to a breakthrough by University of Pittsburgh researchers
who have developed a noninvasive method to measure
the glucose level in body fluids.
Researchers Sanford A. Asher, professor of chemistry
in the Faculty and College of Arts and Sciences,
and David Finegold, professor of pediatrics in the
School of Medicine, at the University of Pittsburg,
created a thin plastic sensor that changes color
based on the concentrations of glucose.
The sensor material, which would be worn like a
contact lens, was described in a paper published
in the online version of Analytical Chemistry on
April 11. The paper is scheduled to be published
in the print version of Analytical Chemistry, a publication
of the American Chemical Society, on May 1.
“There has been an increasing demand for continuous,
noninvasive glucose monitoring due to the increasing
number of people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus
and the recognition that the long-term outcome of
these patients can be dramatically improved by careful
glucose monitoring and control,” said Asher.
“The current method of testing glucose in
diabetes patients—by drawing blood from a finger
prick—is uncomfortable and is dependent on
patient skill and compliance for regular testing,” said
Finegold.
The researchers
plan to embed the sensing material into contact
lenses worn in the patients’ eyes.
Patients will determine their glucose levels by looking
into a mirror—similar to women’s makeup
compact mirrors, but with a color chart to indicate
glucose concentrations—to compare the color
of the sensing material with the chart.
The sensor will change from red, which indicates
dangerously low glucose concentrations, to violet,
which will indicate dangerously high glucose concentrations.
When the glucose level is normal, the sensor will
be green. The researchers are still determining the
number of detectable gradations, but expect that
it may be as high as the finger stick meters currently
provide.
The University of Pittsburgh, which owns this patented
technology, has licensed the technology to a new
startup company, which will engineer the material
and commercialize it. The researchers believe the
product is at least a year from being tested in humans.
The researchers also expect that their technology
would be able to be incorporated into available commercial
contact lenses, which would be replaced weekly.
